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Water-Supply and Irrigation Paper No. 188 



n- •^. f B, Descriptive Geology, 108 
^"^n 0, Underground Waters, 66 



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

CHARLES D. WALCOTT, DiRECTOB 



WATER RESOURCES 



OF THE 



mo GRANDE VALLEY IN NEW MEXICO 



AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT 



BY 



W^ILLIS T. LEE 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
1907 



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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/waterresourcesofOOIeew 



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Water-Supply and Irrigation Paper No. 188 Series / ^' ^^^scriptive Geology, 108 

0, Underground Waters, 66 



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOK 
UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

CHARLES D. WALCOTT, Director 






WATER RESOURCES 



OF THE 



RIO GRANDE VALLEY IN NEW MEXICO 



AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT 



BY 



A^LLLIS T. LEE 




WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING -OFtTCE 



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CONTENTS. 



I'age. 

Introduction 7 

Geography 8 

Relation to other regions 8 

Eastern margin 8 

Western margin 8 

Central area 9 

Mountains 9 

Plains 9 

Slopes n 

Terraces 11 

Erosion basins and canyons 12 

Introductory statement . 12 

Espanola Valley 12 

White Eock Canyon 12 

Santo Domingo Valley 13 

San Felipe Canyon 13 

Albuquerque Valley 13 

Isleta Narrows . . . , 13 

Belen Valley 13 

San Acacia Gorge 14 

Socorro Valley 14 

Engle Valley 14 

Elephant Butte Canyon 14 

Las Palomas Valley . . 15 

Selden Canyon 15 

Mesilla Valley 15 

El Paso Canyon 15 

El Paso Valfey 16 

Geology 16 

Introduction 16 

Rock formations 16 

Consolidated sediments 16 

Unconsolidated sediments 16 

Igneous rocks 17 

Structure 17 

General characteristics 17 

Eastern border 18 

Western border 18 

Central area 18 

Topographic development 19 

Erosion 19 

Sedimentation 19 

Tertiary 19 

Quaternary : 19 

3 



4 CONTENTS. 

Geology — Continued. Page. 

Tertiary and Quaternary history 20 

Surface deformation and first volcanic eruption 20 

First accumulation of gravels 20 

Second volcanic eruption 21 

First epoch of erosion 21 

Ancient course of the Rio (Irande 21 

Second accumulation of gravels 22 

Third volcanic eruption _ 22 

Diversion of the Rio Grande 23 

Second epoch of erosion 23 

Accumulation of silt 24 

Reservoir sites _ 25 

Introductory statement 25 

International reservoir 25 

Engle reservoir 26 

Location 26 

Rock formations 26 

Structure 26 

Spillway -. 27 

Constructional materials 28 

Building stone 28 

Cement material 28 

Coal 29 

San Acacia reservoir 29 

San Felipe reservoir 29 

Espanola reservoir 30 

Water supply 30 

Surface waters 30 

Rainfall 30 

Evaporation 31 

Drainage 31 

Underground waters 33 

Santa Fe district 33 

Albuquerque district 34 

Belen district 35 

General conditions 35 

Wells 35 

Jornada district 37 

Geologic structure 37 

Flowing wells 37 

Nonflowing wells 38 

Indications of artesian water 39 

La Mesa district 39 

Mesilla district 40 

Location and character 40 

Water table 41 

Wells of Mesilla Valley 41 

General statements 41 

Wells at Agricultural College 41 

Wells of F. C. Barker 42 

Well of Mrs. E. M. Boyer 43 

Well of Frank Burke 43 

Well of J. C. Carrera 43 



CONTENTS. 

Water supply — Continued. ^'^^se. 
TTnderground waters — Continued. 
Mesilla district — Continued. 

Wells of Mesilla Valley — Continued. 

Well of Robert Elwood 48 

Well of W. N. Hager 48 

Well of A. L. Hines 43 

Wells of Horace Ranch Company 44 

Las Cruces city well 44 

Well of Theodore Roualt 44 

Well of Shalam Colony 45 

Well of J. R. Thompson 45 

Well of G. H. Totten 45 

Table showing well records in Mesilla Valley 46 

Underflow of the Rio Grande region , 48 

Water plane ■ 48 

Quantity of underflow 48 

Origin of underflow 49 

Course of underflow 50 

Chemical character of Rio Grande waters 50 

Mesilla district 50 

Other districts 51 

Applications 55 

Utilization of underflow 55 

Shallow wells 55 

Deep wells 55 

Seepage ditches 55 

Water storage 55 

Index 57 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Plate I. Topographic sketch map of the Rio Grande region ^ 7 

II.'' A, Face of terrace west of Caballos Mountains; B, Albuquerque vol- 

/ canoes and lava flow 12 

III'. Cross sections of the Rio Grande region 14 

IV. ^, Lava-capped mesa at San Marcial; B, Side gorge at the entrance 

to White Rock Canyon, near Espanola dam site 16 

V. A, Tertiary strata in Arroyo Salado at the base of Sierra Ladron; 

B, Canyon in Tertiary sediments west of San Acacia, N. Mex 18 

VI. .4, Sandia Volcano; a volcanic cone of recent origin west of Isleta, 

N. Mex. ; B, Caballos Mountains 20 

VII. A, Western face of the Fra Cristobal Mountains, showing two faults; 

B, Fault plane at western base of the Fra Cristobal Mountains. .. 22 

VIII. Geologic map of Elephant Butte region 26 

IX. Engle dam site 28 

X. Map of Mesilla Valley 42 

Fig. 1. Sketch section illustrating the detrital deposits of Rio Grande Valley . 20 

2. Section across W^hite Rock Canyon near Espanola dam site 80 




z\: 



TOPOGRAPHIC SKETCH MAP 
OF THE 

RIO GRANDE REGION 

NEW MEXICO 




liCl 



WATER RESOURCES OF THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY IN 
NEW MEXICO, AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT. 



B}^ Willis T. Lee. 



introductio:n^. 

The investigations described in this paper were undertaken for the 
purpose of gathering information which might aid in the develop- 
ment of the water resources of the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico. 
Two general lines of observations were followed, one pertaining to 
underground waters and their utilization, the other to the storage and 
conservation of the surface waters. The work was done during the 
field seasons of 1904 and 1905 under the general direction of Mr. 
N. H. Darton. The area examined extends along the Rio Grande 
from the southern boundary of New Mexico northward to Santa Fe. 

The valley of the Rio Grande, lying west of the Rocky Mountain 
uplift, extends in a north-south direction through a part of New Mex- 
ico which is characterized by comparatively small and more or less iso- 
lated mountain groups separated by basinlike depressions partly 
filled with rock debris. The valley is a part of the semiarid region of 
the southwestern part of the United States, in which the rainfall 
is insufficient for agriculture without irrigation. 

A comparatively small amount of the water derived from the moun- 
tains to the north sustains a small but permanent flow in the river 
in the northern part of the region, but this water gradually disappears 

:^ the river bed in the southern part is often dry. 

The Rio Grande is essentially a storm-water stream, subject to 
great and sudden floods. Within the area described only three per- 
manent streams — the Rio Puerco, Rio Jemes, and Galisteo Creek — 
enter the Rio Grande, and their discharge, except in times of storm, 
is comparatively small. The rainfall in the region occurs principally 
in the form of violent showers or ''cloud-bursts," which fill the dry 
stream courses with turbulent floods of short duration. When these 
showers occur simultaneously in many parts of the region they cause 
more or less destructive floods in the river. For these reasons the 
fertile irrigable lands along the river are sometimes unproductive 

7 



8 WATER RESOURCES OF RIO GRANDE VALLEY^ N. MEX. 

for want of water and at other times crops are ruined because the 
fields are submerged or irrigation ditches destroyed b}^ floods. 

Much of the diminution in the volume of flow downstream is due to 
the fact that a large part of the water of the river sinks beneath 
the surface into the porous material of the valley bottom. Many of 
the tributar}^^ stream courses that are dr}^ where they join the river 
contain flowing water in their upper reaches, the water sinking 
beneath the surface when it reaches the detrital material of the valley. 
The water entering the ground from the river and from the trib- 
utary streams is sufficient in volume to warrant its development for 
irrigation. 

GEOGRAPHY. 

RELATION TO OTHER REGIONS. 

New Mexico consists of four general geographic provinces — the 
plains, occupying its eastern part; the Kocky Mountain province 
occupying its central part; the plateau province, in its northwestern 
part; and the basin range province, in its southwestern part. The 
Rocky Mountains proper terminate in northern New Mexico, but the 
general mountain uplift extends southward across the Territory as a 
succession of comparatively small mountain groups. These have not 
been generally recognized as parts of the Rocky Mountains, altho 
they belong to the same general system. The Rio Grande region lies 
between the Rocky Mountain province on the east and the plateau 
and basin range provinces on the west. 

EASTERN MARGIN. 

The crest of the Rocky Mountain uplift, consisting of the southern 
extremity of the Rocky Mountains proper, the Sandia and Montoso 
mountains, Sierra Oscura, San Andreas Range, and the Organ and 
Franklin mountains, form the eastern boundary of the area here de- 
scribed. The uplift becomes progressively lower toward the south, 
the maximum altitudes varying from 13,000 feet in the Rocky Moun- 
tains east of Santa Fe to 7,000 feet in the Franklin Mountains in the 
southern part of the region, and the minimum altitudes from 7,500 feet 
in Glorietta Pass near the northern end of the region to 3,700 feet at 
the southern end where the Rio Grande cuts through the uplift at The 
Pass. The rocks consist of granites and sedimentary rocks that range 
in age from pre-Cambrian to Tertiary. 

WESTERN MARGIN. 

The western margin of the Rio Grande VaJley is much more irregu- 
lar than the eastern margin, in both outline and altitude. It is 
formed by the Jemes Mountains at the north, by the Ladron, Socorro, 
Magdalena, and San Mateo mountains in the central part, and by the 



GEOGRAPHY, CENTRAL AREA. 9 

Good Sight and Potrillo mountains farther south. These groups are 
more or less widely separated, either h}" undrained detrital plains like 
La Mesa, lying between the Potrillo Mountains and Cerro Magdalen, 
or by broad valleys like that of the Rio Puerco. 

The older sedimentary formations extend over the same wide 
range of geologic age as those in the eastern margin, but the exposures 
are small, the greater part of the surface being occupied by effusive 
rock and unconsolidated detritus. 

CENTRAL AREA. 
MOUNTAINS. 

Three large groups of mountains, the Caballos, the Fra Cristobal, 
and Cerro Magdalen (not to be confused with the Magdalena Moun- 
tains) occur within the limits of the Rio Grande region, and several 
small groups and isolated peaks, like the Dona Ana Hills, Cerro 
Robledo, and Cerro Cuchillo. 

The Caballos and Fra Cristobal ranges consist of granite and over- 
lying sediments dipping eastward beneath the Jornada del Muerto. 
(PI. VI, B.) The Socorro Mountains, Cerro Magdalen, the Dona Ana 
Hills, and a large number of smaller hills in the central part of the 
region are of eruptive origin, but many of the hills, such as Cerro 
Robledo (see PL III), Tortuga, Cerro Cuchillo, and Sierra Ladron, 
are tilted blocks of sedimentary rocks. 

PLAINS. 

In the southern half of the Rio Grande region there are two broad 
plains, which, on account of their important bearing on questions con- 
nected with underground-water conditions in the Rio Grande region, 
require special description. These are the Jornada del Muerto and 
La Mesa. The Jornada has been described in a former water-supply 
paper, ^ but certain characters directly affecting the problems here 
discust require further consideration. 

In the paper above cited ^ the Jornada del Muerto is regarded as 
including Mesilla Valley on the south and the plain lying northeast 
of San Marcial between Sierra Oscura and Cerro Montoso, thus com- 
prising an area having a length of about 200 miles and an average 
gradient of 12 feet per mile. This extension of the Jornada proper 
may be advisable in describing the structural geology, but it is 
thought best to use here the name in its original meaning, applying it 
only to the high plain between Las Cruces and San Marcial, since, thus 
defined, it corresponds not only with the local usage but also with the 
ancient course of the Rio Grande described on page 21. 

aKeyes, C. E,., Water-Sup. and Irr. Paper No. 123, U. S. Geol. Survey, 1905. 
ftJbid., p. 13. 



10 WATER RESOURCES OF RIO GRANDE VALLEY, N. MEX. 

The Jornada del Miierto, according to this usage, is the nearly 
level detrital plain, 10 to 20 miles or more in width, extending from 
San Marcial southward to Las Cruces3 between the San Andreas and 
the Caballos-Fra Cristobal mountain ranges — a distance of about 100 
miles. It has no drainage lines except at the southern end, near 
the river, but throughout its length slight depressions occur near its 
center, in which storm waters gather and form small temporary 
lakes. The altitude of the plain at the northern end, near San Mar- 
cial, is about 4,700 feet, and at its southern end 4,250 feet, a differ- 
ence in surface elevation of 450 feet in the 100 miles of length, or 
an average gradient of 4.5 feet per mile. 

The rocks exposed in the mountain slopes on either side of the 
Jornada are the upturned sedimentary rocks forming the floor of 
the syncline described by Keyes in the report previously referred to. 
The central plain, however, is covered to a depth of at least several 
hundred feet with detritus, consisting of sand, gravel, and angular 
rock debris. As indicated by well records, the material in the cen- 
tral part of the Jornada is largely sand and rounded pebbles of 
quartzite and argillite, while angular detritus, consisting mainly of 
limestone and sandstone, is apparently more abundant near the 
sides. 

The second plain, locally known as '^La Mesa," lies in the south- 
ern part of the Rio Grande region west of Mesilla Valley, and extends 
from the vicinity of Las Cruces southward into Mexico. It is simi- 
lar to the Jornada in many ways. Its altitude is the same as that 
of the southern end of the Jornada, and the two formed a single 
plain previous to the excavation of Mesilla Valley. La Mesa has a 
width of 20 miles or more and is undissected by erosion and entirely 
wantirg in lines of surface drainage. It contains several broad, 
shallow depressions, but, unlike those of the Jornada, these do not 
retain storm waters for any appreciable length of time. Although 
inclined slightl}^ to the south, the surface appears practically level 
over an area of more than 1,000 square miles. 

To a depth of at least 945 feet, the depth of the deepest well, the 
material in La Mesa consists of clay, sand, and rounded pebbles of 
quartzite, argillite, and a great variety of hard igneous and meta- 
morphic rocks, with a subordinate amount of angular debris. The 
surface is notably more sandy than that of the Jornada, and wells 
sunk in it encounter a greater proportion of fine material than occurs 
in the Jornada. 

In the northern part of La Mesa there are gravel beds of con- 
siderable size at the surface, but these become less numerous toward 
the south, until near the Mexican boundary sand alone is exposed 
and the surface becomes practically level. The region was not 
explored south of the Mexican boundary for the purposes of this 



GEOGRAPHY, CENTRAL AREA. 11 

report, but from the siiininit of tlie Potrillo Mountains the sandy 
plain appeared to continue southward unbroken as far as the e3^e 
could reach. It is probable that La Mesa is the northern extrem- 
ity of the broad interior basin of northern Mexico, the lowest parts 
of which, containing undrained lakes, occur 25 to 50 miles south of 
the international boundary. At some former time this basin was 
probably occupied by a large lake, the northern extremity of which 
covered La Mesa. 

SLOPES. 

The greater part of the surface of the Eio Grande region is made 
up of long, corrugated slopes, extending from the bordering moun- 
tains to the river. East of the river the slope varies in length from 
5 to 20 miles. Near Santa Fe it is 12 miles long and has an average 
gradient of 125 feet per mile. East of Albuquerque it is about 10 
miles long and has a gradient of about 70 feet per mile, and east of 
Las Cruces it is 10 miles long and has a gradient of about 100 feet 
per mile. In places where the river is located near the mountains, 
as at the northern end of the Sandia and west of the Caballos Moun- 
tains (PL VI, B), the gradient is 250 to 300 feet per mile. 

The slopes of the western part of the Rio Grande region are much 
more varied than those that lie east of the river. Some are short, 
steep, and deeply dissected; others are many miles in length and 
perfectly graded, and still others, like those drained by Arroyo 
Salado and Rio Puerco, are but slightly inclined. 

The material exposed on the corrugated slopes consists of angular 
rock fragments derived from the mountains. These fragments vary 
in coarseness with the variations in the hardness of the rock from 
which they were formed and with the gradient of the slopes on which 
they are deposited. In general, they are large near the hills and on 
the steep slopes and small on the lower grades and near the foot of 
the slopes, where they are often found intermingled with sand and 
pebbles that have been rounded by stream action. 

TERRACES. 

The long slopes terminate more or less abruptly near the river in 
bluffs or terraces, two of which are more or less conspicuous throughout 
the Rio Grande region. The highest is not continuous. It is rep- 
resented west of Santa Fe by the lava-capped detrital bluffs exposed 
in the canyon of Santa Fe Creek, where it forms a shelf 500 feet 
above a lower terrace and about 800 feet above the river, as shown 
in the Santa Clara sheet of the United States Geological Survey. 
West of Albuquerque it is represented by the broad, sandy plain 
upon which the lava flow from Albuquerque volcanoes rests, 500 
feet above the lower terrace and 800 feet above the river. (See PI. 



12 WATEE RESOURCES OF RIO GRANDE VALLEY, N. MEX. 

II, B, and section D-D on PL III.) Near the southern end of the 
region a similar relation occurs, the high detrital plain west of Cerro 
Robledo being 500 feet higher than La Mesa and 800 feet higher than 
the river, as shown in the Las Cruces sheet of the United States 
Geological Survey. The ancient surface represented by these rem- 
nants apparently had the same gradient as the Rio Grande has at 
the present time. 

On either side of the river, at altitudes about 500 feet lower than 
the isolated remnants of the high terrace, are well-defined terraces, 
which are practically continuous from White Rock Canyon to El 
Paso. They are remnants of a surface that was formed principally 
by aggradation and later dissected by the river and its tributaries. 
This surface is represented at Albuquerque by the wide shelf between 
the lava flow and the river, shown in the foreground of PL II, B. 
Farther south it is represented by the Jornada and La Mesa. (See 
sections of PL III.) The surface was formed, first, by the depo- 
sition of river sand and gravel; second, by the erosion of previ- 
ously deposited gravels and volcanic tuffs, illustrated in PL II, A; 
tliird, by lava flows, such as those near San Marcial (PL IV, A) and 
San Acacia, and, fourth, by the planation of upturned sedimentary 
rocks, like those exposed at the surface along the eastern base of the 
Caballos Mountains in the vicinity of Engle, shown in PL IX. 

EROSION BASINS AND CANYONS. 

Introductory statement. — Along the Rio Grande there are erosion 
basins, separated by rock canyons, as shown in PL I, and limited in 
form and size by the character of the material in which they were 
excavated. These basins are parts of the valley of the Rio Grande 
that have been broadened on account of the easy erosion of uncon- 
solidated material while the narrower canyons were being cut in the 
hard rock. 

Espanola Valley. — This valley extends from the head of White 
Rock Canyon northward beyond the region here considered. The 
southern end of the valley has been described as a possible reservoir 
site," and a contour map of it has been made. The valley is exca- 
vated in unconsolidated sand, gravel, and rhyolitic tuff. The gravel 
beds are exposed in bluffs several hundred feet high and are pro- 
tected from erosion by the overlying igneous rock, consisting of 
rhyolitic tuff and basalt flows. The depth of the sands and gravels 
beneath the river is not known. 

White Rod: Canyon. — This canyon begins south of Espanola Valley, 
at a point where the Rio Grande enters a narrow gorge about 20 miles 
in length. The canyon owes its existence to sheets of hard igneous 

a Twenty-first Arm. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 4, 1899-1900. 



U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVE^ 



WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 188 PL. II 




A. FACE OF TERRACE WEST OF CABALLOS MOUNTAINS. 
Showing stratified sand and gravels overlain by rhyolitic tuff. 




p^:^' ^^^^^t 









':^^b^ 



B. ALBUQUERQUE VOLCANOES AND LAVA FLOVv. 

Lower terrace, 300 feet above the river, in the foreground. Lava flow, capping the detritus, 800 feet 

above the river. 



GEOGRAPHY, CENTRAL AREA. 13 

rock, which protect the underlying sands and gravels. West of the 
river this rock is principally light-colored rhyolite, the color of which 
suggested the name Wliite Rock Canyon, but east of the river it is 
basalt, of which there are two sheets, separated by a few feet of sand. 
The structure is indicated in a general way in fig. 2 and PI. IV, B. 

Near the mouth of the canyon a stream entering the Rio Grande 
from the east has carved a gorge, exposing about 400 feet of basalt. 
Tliis gorge (PI. IV, J5), although comparatively small, illustrates the 
rugged character of the topography in the vicinity of White Rock 
Canyon. 

Santo Domingo Valley. — This valley extends from the mouth of 
White Rock Canyon to a point 7 miles south of the Indian pueblo of 
Santo Domingo. It is 1 to 3 miles wide and contains about 13,000 
acres of bottom land, which is owned mainly by the Santo Domingo 
Indians and has been irrigated by them for many years. The greater 
part of this land lies only a few feet above the bed of the river and is 
subject to frequent overflow. 

San Felipe Canyon. — This is a short gorge separating Santo Do- 
mingo Valley from Albuquerque Valley. The canyon walls are com- 
posed of unconsolidated sand and gravel, capped by sheets of basaltic 
lava. 

Albuquerque Valley. — This valley extends from San Felipe Canyon' 
southward to Isleta, where it narrows on account of the basaltic lava 
which extends thence westward over a large part of the Sandia Mesa. 
The valley is about 35 miles long and 1 to 5 miles wide and comprises 
an estimated area of 70,000 acres of bottom land. It is terminated 
abruptly on either side by steep bluffs of sand and gravel forming 
the terraces previously described. The bluffs west of the valley con- 
sist of sand and clay, capped in places by sheets of basalt. Those to 
the east are composed of stratified sand overlain by coarse unstratified 
gravels separated from the underlying sands by erosional uncon- 
formities. 

Isleta Narrows. — The constriction through which the river flows at 
Isleta is not properly a canyon. The broad Albuquerque Valley here 
narrows on account of the presence of the hard igneous rock of Isleta 
Volcano, an extinct volcanic cone west of the town. The lava occurs 
not only in the bluffs west of the river but extends nearly across the 
valley at the town of Isleta. 

Belen Valley. — This valley, so named from the principal town 
within its area, extends from Isleta to San Acacia, a distance of about 
45 miles, and contains an estimated area of 65,000 acres of bottom 
land. The Rio Puerco and the Arroyo Salado, the two largest tribu- 
taries of the Rio Grande, join the river in this valley. The Rio 
Puerco flows across the broad stretch of unconsolidated and hori- 
zontally bedded sand and gravel, locally known as Albuquerque Mesa. 



14 WATEK RESOURCES OF RIO GRANDE VALLEY, N. MEX. 

It is a sluggish, muddy stream, practically impassable on account of 
quicksand, except at times of low water. The Arroyo Salado enters 
the valley through a canyon in the partly consolidated and upturned 
Tertiary strata illustrated in PI. V, A. 

San Acacia Gorge.— This is the narrows at the southern end of 
Belen Valley. The mesa east of the river near San Acacia is covered 
by a sheet of basalt, which originally extended farther northwest- 
ward across the present course of the Rio Grande. The river has cut 
thru an arm of this lava sheet, making a short narrow gorge, the 
walls of which, about 250 feet high, are composed of sand and gravel, 
protected by the cap of igneous rock. 

The portion of lava left west of the river is less than one-half mile 
in length. West of this, and 75 feet higher than the river level, is a 
wide sand and gravel plain, which evidently marks the course of the 
Rio Grande previous to the time the river broke through the lava at 
tKe gorge. Still farther west the beds of loose sand and gravel give 
place to the Tertiary sediments shown in PL V, B. 

Socorro Valley. — This valley, so named from its principal town, 
extends from San Acacia Gorge southward to San Marcial, a distance 
of about 40 miles, and includes an estimated area of about 60,000 
acres of bottom land. It is similar to Albuquerque and Belen val- 
'leys, except that the mountains on its sides are nearer and the cor- 
rugated detrital slopes correspondingly steeper and more eroded than 
those bordering the valleys previously described. 

Engle Valley. — This valley extends from San Marcial to Elephant 
Butte, a distance of about 40 miles. This valley differs from the 
others described in being very narrow, as shown in PI. I, and in its 
lack of bottom land. The northern half has been described and 
mapped as a reservoir site." From this map it appears that the 
contour, marking elevations 100 feet above the river incloses a strip 
of land varying in width from about 800 feet to 2 miles. The south- 
ern half of the valley is somewhat wider in places. According to the 
reports of the United States Reclamation Service the maximum area 
to be submerged in the Engle reservoir, described on pages 26-29, 
is about 38,400 acres, contained in a strip 40 miles long and about 
IJ miles in average width. 

Altho Engle Valley is cut in detritus, it is not so broad as the valleys 
to the north and to the south. West of the rock hills, near Elephant 
Butte, the detrital beds extend continuously southward (PL VIII) 
and seem to present an easy passage for the river, but it does not fol- 
low the course thus afforded. 

Elephant Butte Canyon. — ^A few miles north of Elephant Butte the 
river leaves the detrital beds and enters a narrow rock canyon, which 



n Twelfth Ann. Kept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 2, p. 203. 




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GEOGRAPHY, CENTRAL AREA. 15 

it occupies thence southward to the end of the Caballos Mountains. 
This canyon is described in detail as the Engle dam site (see pp. 
26-29) and need not be further discussed in this connection. 

Las Palomns Valley. — This valley, extending from Elephant Butte 
to Rincon, a distance of about 50 miles, is much broader than Engle 
Valley. The bottom lands form a part of the irrigable area, 26,000 
acres in extent, under the proposed Engle reservoir. The terrace 
bluffs bordering this valley are especially conspicuous. West of the 
river they consist of well-stratified sands and gravels, but east of the 
valley they are more varied in both form and composition, containing 
not only stratified sand and gravel, but- volcanic tuffs, as shown in PI. 
11,^. 

Selden Canyon. — This canyon, extending from Rincon to the head 
of Mesilla Valley, a distance of about 18 miles, is not so uniformly nar- 
row as some of the other canyons. At some places, as at Penasco 
Rock, where a dike crosses the course of the river, the canyon is nar- 
row. At other places it broadens to considerable dimensions. It 
contains about 8,000 acres of bottom land. 

Mesilla Valley. — This is the largest of the erosion basins of the Rio 
Grande region, extending from old Fort Selden southward to The 
Pass, a distance of about 50 miles. It has a maximum width of 8 
miles and includes about 150,000 acres of bottom land, of which 
100,000 acres are irrigable. It contains the principal body of land to 
be irrigated from the proposed Engle reservoir, and has been surveyed 
in detail by the United States Reclamation Service, as shown in PI. X. 
The valley is cut in the unconsolidated sand and gravel, typically 
exposed in the bluffs, 300 feet or more in height, bordering La Mesa 
on the west. 

As in the Elephant Butte region, the detrital bed in which Mesilla 
VaUey is cut extends uninterruptedly southward, west of the rock 
hiUs near El Paso; but the river, instead of following this seemingly 
easy course, abandoned the detrital bed and cut a canyon through the 
hard rock ridge at El Paso. 

El Paso Canyon. — This is a rock gorge through which the Rio 
Grande, formerly a stream of the interior basin region of New Mexico 
and Mexico, past and became thenceforth a part of the Gulf drain- 
age. The character of this canyon and its relation to the mountain 
ridge and the ancient course of the river — La Mesa — is indicated in 
section A-A of PI. III. Rock terraces at the same altitude as the sur- 
face of La Mesa indicate that after the river had formed a graded 
surface over the region, principally by building up its course, it found a 
way across the rock ridge at The Pass. The epoch of erosion that 
followed was not of sufficient duration to cut more than the narrow 
canyon in the hard rock of The Pass, although the broad Mesilla Valley 
was excavated at the same time. 



16 WATER RESOURCES OF RIO GRANDE VALLEY, N. MEX. 

El Paso Valley. — This valley is similar to Mesilla ValleY in being a 
broad basin cut in unconsolidated sand and gravel. It lies outside of 
the Territory of New Mexico, and is therefore not properly included in 
this paper, although it contains part of the land included in the Rio 
Grande reclamation project. The valley has been described by Rich- 
ardson" and b}^ Slichter. 



h 



GEIOI^OGY. 

INTRODUCTION. 

No attempt is made to discuss the geology of the Rio Grande 
region further than is necessary to give an understanding of the 
physical conditions likely to affect the storage of the surface waters 
and the occurrence and development of the underground waters; but 
in order to describe these conditions some knowledge of the rocks is 
necessary. Three kinds of rock are recognized in this report. The 
first consists of granites, gneisses, and consolidated sediments, 
including sandstones, limestones, and shales. The second consists of 
unconsolidated sediments or detritus of comparatively recent origin, 
including river sands and gravels and mountain wash. The third 
comprises effusive rocks, mainly of Tertiary and Quaternary age. 

ROCK FORMATIONS. 
CONSOLIDATED SEDIMENTS. 

The older sedimentary rocks of the Rio Grande region include 
strata that range in age from Algonkian to Cretaceous and that are 
well exposed throughout the area described. These, together with the 
underlying granites, form the rock basuis that contain the water- 
bearing formations and to some extent are themselves water beariag. 
The consolidated sediments have special importance near Elephant 
Butte, where the Rio Grande cuts a sharp gorge through them at the 
Engle dam site, and near El Paso, at the site of the proposed Inter- 
national dam. 

UNCONSOLIDATED SEDIMENTS. 

Unconsolidated material, consisting of clay, sand, and water-worn 
gravel, occurs generally in the lowlands along the river, in the terraces 
on either side of the Rio Grande Valley, in the central part of the 
Jornada del Muerto, and in La Mesa, west of Mesilla Valley. The 
slopes l.ying between the river and the mountains consist largely of 
angular rock debris, derived as wash from the mountains. 

The older detrital beds are partly cemented, but the younger ones 
are wholly unconsolidated and allow^ water to pass freely through them. 



a Richardson, G. B., Reconnaissance in trans-Pecos Texas: Bull. Univ. Texas No. 23, 1904, pp. 95-108. 
& Slichter Charles S., Observations on the ground Wii tors of the Rio Grande Valley: Water-Sup. and 
Irr, Paper No. 141, U. S. Geol. Survey, 1905, pp. 9-51. 



U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 




A. LAVA-CAPPED MESA AT SAN MARCIAL. 

The sheet of basalt resting upon the sand and gravel is the edge of the great flow covering the north 
end of the Jornada del Muerto. 




B. SIDE GORGE AT THE ENTRANCE TO WHITE ROCK CANYON, NEAR ESPANOLA DAM SITE. 
Snowing colunnnar basalt in the foreground, and the rhyolite west of the river in the background. 



GEOLOGY, IGNEOUS ROOKS. 17 

The detritus has a great, though unknown thickness. A well at Santa 
Fe penetrates it nearly 1,000 feet; another at Sandia, N. Mex., 893 feet; 
one at Lanark, west of Mesilla Valley, 945 feet; and one in a neighbor- 
ing basin,^' near El Paso, 2,285 feet, but in none of these wells has bed 
rock been reached. Where the older and partly cemented beds have 
been upturned and exposed to view in Arroyo Salado, they have an 
observed thickness of several thousand feet. Their character is indi- 
cated in PI. V, A, B. The younger or unceniented sands and gravels 
are well exposed in the terraces on either side of the river. 

IGNEOUS ROCKS. 

The igneous formations that are important in a discussion of the 
water supply are principally of Tertiary and Quaternary age, and 
occur in the form of massive flows, beds of tuff, volcanic necks, dikes 
and sheets, and crater cones. The older effusive masses, consisting of 
andesites, rhyolites, and other rocks closely related to these, occur in 
more or less isolated masses at many places throughout the Rio Grande 
region and are perhaps best represented by the thick beds of tuff on 
the eastern slope of the Jemes Mountains in the northern part of the 
Rio Grande region, by the Socorro Mountains and Cerro Magdalen in 
the central part, and by the Dona Ana Hills in the southern part. 
Their formation antedates the accumulation of at least the upper 
part of the detritus as fragments of the rock are contained in the 
detrital beds. 

The 3^ounger igneous rocks consist of dark-colored basalts, occurring 
mainty in sheets capping the detritus and in crater cones which retain 
their original form in great perfection, as shown in PL VI, ^. Basaltic 
rock also occurs in dikes and volcanic necks penetrating the older 
rocks. Among the more conspicuous sheets capping the detritus may 
be mentioned those west of Santa Fe, through which the river has 
eroded White Rock Canyon, those covering parts of the mesa west of 
Albuquerque (see PL II, B), the San Marcial flow ( see PL IV, A,) and 
the basalt flows of La Mesa west of Mesilla Valley. The dikes and vol- 
canic necks become important. in the vicinity of the Engle reservoir 
(PL IX), where they will probably supply building stone for the 
proposed dam. 

STRUCTURE. 
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 

The geologic structure of the Rio Grande region is complicated, and 
much detailed investigation is necessary before it can be adequately 
described. The main structural features, however, are known in a 
general way. Great sy];iclines, such as the Jornada del Muerto, occur, 

a Richardson, G. B., Reconnaissance in trans-Pecos Texas: Bull. Univ. Texas No. 23, 1904. p. 96. 
lER 188—07- 2 



18 WATER EESOUECES OF EIO GRANDE VALLEY, N. MEX. 

and monoclinal mountains, formed by faulting and the tilting of crust 
blocks. The rocks thus flexed and faulted are mainly of pre-Tertiary 
age, but the Tertiary beds are strongly upturned in places, indicating 
that some crustal movement took place after these beds were formed. 
(PI. V, A). The older valleys of erosion and the troughs formed by 
the tilted blocks have been partly filled with unconsolidated detritus 
consisting of sands, waterworn gravels, and angular mountain wash. 

EASTERN BORDER. 

The eastern part of the Rio Grande region is occupied by the Rocky 
Mountain uplift, which extends through central New Mexico. The 
southern end of the Rocky Mountains, terminated at the south by 
Glorieta Pass, is a granitic mass upon which lie strata that dip away 
from it to the east, south, and west. But south of this pass the 
underlying granite is covered, more or less completely, with sedimen- 
tary rocks dipping in various directions. The strata of Glorieta Mesa 
incline toward the south, and those of the Sandia Mountains, the 
Manzano Range, and Sierra Oscura toward the east. The strata of 
Chupadera Mesa are nearly horizontal, while those of the San Andreas 
Range and the Organ and Franklin mountains dip toward the west. 
Numerous faults occur, with displacements measured in hundreds of 
feet and several with displacements of thousands of feet. 

WESTERN BORDER. 

The western part of the Rio Grande region is less mountainous than 
the eastern part, and a greater proportion of- it is covered with detri- 
tus, which obscures the structure to a large extent. In the Rio 
Puerco Valley strata dip to the east and are believed to pass beneath 
the Rio Grande Valley, whik strata of the same geologic age occur in 
the Sandia Mountains, several thousand feet above the Rio Grande 
Valley, the difference in elevation being due to faulting along the 
western face of the Sandia Mountains and the eastward tilting of the 
Sandia block, as indicated in section D-D of PI. III. On the other 
hand, the crust block forming Sierra Ladron, a few miles south of 
Rio Puerco, has been tilted steeply to the west. 

In the western part of the region many of the mountain groups, 
such as Jemes and Socorro mountains and Cerro Magdalen, are 
composed principally of effusive rock. 

CENTRAL AREA. 

The structure of the Rio Grande region is best shown in the central 
portions, where the river has removed the detritus in many places, 
exposing the consolidated rocks. The Caballos and Fra Cristobal 
ranges, forming the western limb of the Jornada syncline, are cut off 



U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



WATER-SUPPLY PADER NO. I^'S PL V 




TERTIARY STRATA IN ARROYO SALADO AT THE BASE OF SIERRA LADRON. 




B. CANYON IN TERTIARY SEDIMENTS WEST OF SAN ACACIA, N. MEX. 



TOPOGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENT. IV) 

abruptly on the west by great faults which are plainly exposed and 
traceable for longd istances. (See PL VII.) Cerro Robledo furnishes 
a characteristic type of structure. (See PL III.) East of the river 
Carboniferous limestone, dipping westward, passes beneath the Rio 
Grande Valley. The same limestone occurs in the hills to the west 
2,000 feet above the river, the difference in altitude being due to 
faulting and the tilting of the Cerro Robledo block. 

Displacements by faults much greater than that at Cerro Robledo 
are evident at a number of places. The western face of the Caballos 
Mountains(seePL VI, 5) and the Fra Cristobal Mountains (PL VII) 
are fault scarps, and Cerro Cuchillo is an excellent example of a tilted 
block. With the exception of the Jornada del Muerto, the Rio Grande 
region may be properly said to consist of a series of block mountains 
with troughlike depressions intervening betw^een them. 

TOPOGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENT. 
EROSION. 

Altho the elevations and depressions constituting the Rio Grande 
region are due principally to crustal deformation, the topography has 
been more or less modified by erosion and deposition. Many of the 
mountain slopes are precipitous and show^ little modification by ero- 
sion, as illustrated in the Caballos Mountains. (PL VI, B.) Other 
slopes are comparative!}^ mature. Along the eastern base of the 
Caballos and Fra Cristobal ranges, particularly in the vicinity of 
Engle, the stratified rocks dipping eastward beneath the Jornada 
have been practically base-leveled over a considerable area. Whether 
the base-level extends beneath the Jornada generally, as stated by 
Keyes," or is local, can only be conjectured at the present time, as the 
older rocks within the syncline are exposed over a comparatively lim- 
ited area, being for the most part buried to unknown depths by 
detritus. 

SEDIMENTATION. 

Tertiary. — The older portions of the detritus contained in the rock 
basins consist of well-stratified beds of sand, gravel, and mountain 
wash, more or less faulted in places and otherwise disturbed by 
crustal movements. They are undoubtedly of Tertiary age. In 
other places sediments, apparently of Tertiary age, are not separable 
at present from the younger or Quaternary deposits. 

Quaternary. — The unconsolidated sands, gravels, and ^^wash" cov- 
ering the greater part of the Rio Grande region is of Quaternary age 
and occurs in at least two distinctly separable formations. The more 
extensive one, locally known as the mesa gravels, occurs in the ter- 
races along the river and forms the corrugated slopes lying between 

a Keyes, C. R., Water-Sup. and Irr. Paper No. 123, U. S. Geol. Survey, 1905, p. 25. 



20 



WATER RESOUECES OF RIO GRANDE VALLEY, N. MEX. 



the river and the bordering mountains. The second occurs in the 
flood plains in all of the erosion basins previously described. It- the 
Jornada del Muerto and La Mesa the sand and gravel beds belonging 
to this formation are not dissected by erosion, but lie practically as 
they were deposited, at an altitude 300 to 350 feet above the present 
bed of the river. 

The mesa gravels originally filled the basins to altitudes repre- 
sented by the terraces, and in them the erosion basins were cut. The 
depth to which these were excavated and later filled is not definitely 
known, but the general relations of the various gravel beds to each 
other and to th&rock basins containing them are illustrated in fig. 1. 

TERTIARY AND QUATERNARY HISTORY. 
SURFACE DEFORMATION AND FIRST A^OLCANIC ERUPTION. 

The crustal movements that produced the structural and geo- 
graphic features described began at the commencement of or some- 
time during the Tertiary period with the formation of monoclinal 
mountains and troughlike intermontane valleys. About the same 







/ 


' 


^^Sls^^f^ 


/ 



, / 


/ 

/ 

r 


'-''''^i.;"l'^^^^-lifM?°° ^ <\ f 


mm^^'^^m^ 



Fig. 1.— Sketch section illustrating the detrital deposits of Rio Grande Valley, r, Rock basin; c, 
detritus of the higher terrace: u, detritus of the lower terrace; /, flood-plain deposits. 

time great masses of andesite and rhyolite were extruded, remnants 
of which are now found in the Jemes Mountains, the Socorro Moun- 
tains, the Dona Ana Hills, and elsewhere. This deformation and 
volcanic activity evidently occurred late in the Tertiary period, as 
Tertiary strata are upturned and in places intersected by rh3^olite. 

FIRST ACCUMULATION OF GRAVELS. 

The structural troughs between the tilted mountain blocks formed 
natural lodgment areas for sediment. It can not be stated at present 
whether the sediments are partly of lacrustrine origin or wholly 
subaerial, nor is their maximum thickness known, but well records 
indicate a thickness of thousands of feet. The material exposed in 
the terraces and penetrated by the shallow wells, consisting mainly of 
coarse sand and gravel, is presumably of river origin, but some of the 
deep wells penetrate thick beds of sandy clay, possibly of lacustrine 
accumulation. The surface of this first gravel accumulation is pre- 
served in a number of places, where it forms the upper terrace, 800 
feet above the river, described on page 1 1 . 



U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEV 



WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. 188 PL. VI 




A. SANDIA VOLCANO, WEST OF ISLETA, N. MEX. 
A volcanic cone of recent origin, composed of basaltic cinders. 




B. CABALLOS MOUNTAINS. 
Showing tlie western escarpnnent and the corrugated alluvial slope at its base. 



TERTIARY AND QUATERNARY HISTORY. 21 

SECOND VOLCANIC ERUPTION. 

After the depressions had been filled to altitudes represented by the 
upper terrace, extensive sheets of basalt were outpoured over the 
sands and gravels. In the lava fields west of Santa Fe, and in those 
near Bernalillo, two sheets of basalt occur, separated by a few feet of 
gravel, as shown in fig. 2. West of Albuquerque (PL II, B), and also in 
the extensive lava fields west of Islet a, the older sheets apparently 
belong to this epoch of eruption, and it is probable that many of the 
older masses of basalt in other parts of the Rio Grande region were 
extruded at about the same time. 

FIRST EPOCH OF EROSION. 

The second volcanic eruption was apparently accompanied by some 
change, possibly climatic, which caused the Rio Grande to erode its 
channel. During this epoch the river probably flowed through the 
Jornada del Muerto south of San Marcial, across La Mesa west of El 
Paso, and southward into the basin region of northern Mexico, eroding 
a vaUey 10 to 20 miles wide. 

Ancient course of the Rio Grande. ^Many fsLcts point to the infer- 
ence that the ancient course of the Rio Grande was not the same as its 
present course south of San Marcial. Some of the data leading to 
this inference have been given and others will be presented in the 
following paragraphs. Briefly stated, the facts are these : 

The Jornada and La Mesa have the geographic position, form, sur- 
face elevation, and gradient that would be expected in a debris-filled 
valley; they contain unconsolidated sands and gravels as deep as wells 
have penetrated; their surface elevations and gradients indicate that 
they are parts of a graded surface that formerly extended throughout 
the Rio Grande region and is now represented north of San Marcial by 
the low terrace previously described, this ancient surface having the 
same gradient as that of the river at the present time. 

At the point where the river leaves this old valley the surface is 
covered by an extensive basalt flow (the San Marcial lava sheet, 
covering about 160 square miles) resting on sand and gravel beds. 
The lava is not eroded at the surface and is covered only by wind- 
blown sand. Large quantities of loose shifting sand lie immediately 
north of the lava beds. 

Engle and Las Palomas valleys are much narrower than the other ero- 
sion basins, and are cut in detritus which contains gypsum in places. 
The beds are cemented to some extent, and are associated with rhyo- 
lite, presumably much older than the basalt and its underlying detri- 
tus at San Marcial. 

The measure of consolidation, presumably due to difference in age, 
is indicated in the size of the erosion basins. While the river cut can- 



22 WATER EESOURCES OF EIO GRANDE VALLEY, N. MEX. 

yoiLs ill hard rock it excavated narrow valleys in the cemented detri- 
tus west of Caballos and Fra Cristobal mountains and broad basins 
like Socorro and Mesilla valleys in the unconsolidated detritus to the 
north and south. 

From these facts the inference is drawn that the ancient Rio Grande 
flowed through the Jornada and La Mesa into the interior basin of 
Mexico, and that in comparatively recent geologic time changes 
occurred which turned it out of its valley and away from the interior 
basin toward the Gidf of Mexico. 

SECOND ACCUMULATION OF GRAVELS. 

During the second epoch of deposition the river filled its valle}' with 
sand and gravel to the grade represented by the lower terrace {uu of fig. 
1) and by the surface of La Mesa and the Jornada del Muerto. LiLa 
Mesa the ancient valley is about 20 miles wide and the filling is mainly 
fine sand near the surface and somewhat coarser sand and gravel be- 
neath. In the Jornada del Muerto the filled valley is narrower and 
the material is coarser, many of the pebbles having a diameter of sev- 
eral inches. In Albuquerque Valley the quantity of filling during this 
epoch is much less than in La Mesa and the Jornada, and is best rep- 
resented by the coarse gravel deposits of the bluffs near Albuquerque. 
Still farther north, in Santo Domingo Valley, near the northern end of 
the Rio Grande region, the deposits are very limited, and the river 
here was apparently employed mainly in broadening its valle}^ 

The graded surface formed by the river during this epoch was one 
mainly of erosion in Santo Domingo Valley, where a broad shelf was 
cut 500 feet below the surface of the older gravels; one formed partly 
by erosion and partly by deposition in Albuquerque Valley; and one 
mainly of deposition in the Jornada and La Mesa. Throughout the 
Rio Grande region this surface, represented now by the terraced 
bluifs, is about 300 feet above the river, except where it has been cut 
do\VTL by later erosion. 

THIRD VOLCANIC ERUPTION. 

Near the close of the second period of sedimentation extensive vol- 
canic disturbances occurred throughout the Rio Grande region, result- 
ing again in the outpouring of great sheets of basalt. The most con- 
spicuous of these are near San Marcial (PI. IV, A) and on La Mesa west 
of Mesilla Valley. The San Marcial flow, covering about 160 square 
miles, was outpoured on the Jornada del Muerto, then occupied by the 
Rio Grande, and probably created a dam that formed a temporary 
lake in which were accumulated the great quantities of sand found on 
the Jornada north of the lava sheet. 



U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 



WATER-SUPPLY PAPER NO. IBS PL. Vll 





P<stritus/- 



' ^. "- >\^ \ •: Granite r/ i ^7 -V~C 




A. WESTERN FACE OF THE FRA CRISTOBAL MOUNTAINS. 
Showing two faults, a and b. 




£-* 







«i 



■M 



t- 



JF 

-M 













'»*■•, 







FAULT PLANE AT THE WESTERN BASE OF FRA CRISTOBAL MOUNTAI 
Showing near view of a, above. 



TERTIARY AND QUATERNARY HISTORY. 23 

DIVERSION OF THE RIO GRANDE. 

There is no evidence that the river ever flowed over the San Mar- 
cial lava sheet. The surface of this sheet is not eroded and, so far as 
observed, is devoid of foreign matter except a small amount of wind- 
blown sand. The volcanic dam, aided possibly by surface movements 
accompanying the volcanic eruptions, evidently diverted the river 
from its old valley in the Jornada to a new course for a distance of 
about 100 miles west of the Caballos and Fra Cristobal mountains. 
At Dona Ana it returned to the old debris-filled valley, which it crossed 
diagonally and abandoned again at El Paso. 

Several phenomena which otherwise are difficult to explain are 
made clear by a recognition of this change in the course of the 
river. 

First, as previously stated, the surface of the Jornada between San 
Marcial and Mesilla Valley has an average gradient of 4.5 feet per 
mile, which is practically the gradient of the river at the present 
time. 

Second, the detrital beds cut by the river west of the Fra Cristo- 
bal and Caballos mountains are associated with rhyolite, apparently 
extruded at the same time as the rhyolites previously described as of 
Tertiary age, indicating that the detritus is older and probably more 
difficult to erode than the loose sands and gravels that were deposited 
later. 

Third, near Rincon, and again in Selden Canyon, gypsum was noted 
in the detrital beds, but nowhere was any indication of gypsum found 
in the mesa gravels referable to the epoch in which the Jornada and 
La Mesa were filled. 

Fourth, as previously stated, Engle Valley is much narrower than 
the other erosion basins formed at the same time — as, for example, 
Mesilla and Belen valleys, which have been excavated from river sands 
and gravels known to be of recent origin. This difi^erence is due, no 
doubt, to the greater resistance to erosion of the older detritus. 

SECOND EPOCH OF EROSION. 

The volcanic eruptions and the change in the course of the river 
were followed by a second epoch of erosion. In again eroding a val- 
ley, the river worked principally in the unconsolidated sands and 
gravels previously deposited, excavating the erosion basins, but at a 
number of places where it had wandered from its old course it cut its 
channel in hard rock, forming the various canyons. The result is the 
succession of comparatively broad basins and short rock canyons that 
characterize the Rio Grande region, p 



24 WATER RESOURCES OF RTO GRANDE VALLEY^ N, MEX. 

ACCUMULATION OF 8ILT. 

The second epoch of erosion was followed by the deposition of the 
silt and sand that now form the flood plains of the erosion basins. 
The depth of this third valley filling is not great. Borings indicate a 
maximum depth of 85 feet at the. International dam site in El Paso 
Canyon and of 72 feet at the Engle dam site, near Elephant Butte. 
The depth within the basins probably does not differ greatly from 
that in the canyons, but this can not be stated positively. 

The well records given in the section on underground waters indi- 
cate that the mxesa gravels {uu of fig. 1) are probably encountered at 
depths of 30 to 80 feet. The first ^^ cemented sand" in the Albuquer- 
que well (p. 34) is presumably a hardened layer of the Tertiary beds, 
and the gravel beds in the Mesilla Valle}?^ wells (pp. 41-46), encountered 
at depths of 30 to 75 feet, are interpreted as belonging to the mesa 
gravels. The depth of flood-plain deposit thus indicated corresponds 
well with the known depth of filling in the canyons. 

The deposition of sand and silt in the erosion basins causes frequent 
changes in the course of the river, so that bayous, sloughs, and oxbow 
lakes are common in the bottom lands. This is well illustrated in 
Mesilla Valley (PL X), where many abandoned courses occur, particu- 
larly near the southern end, some still occupied by streams and others 
nearly filled with silt. A characteristic change in the channel of the 
river occurred in 1905 near the head-gate of Las Cruces canal, at 
the northern end of Mesilla Valley. During the spring floods of that 
year the river broke through the narrow neck of land on the western 
side of the valley, leaving the head-gates about a mile from the new 
channel. 

B. M. Hall, supervising engineer of the United States Reclamation 
Service, in charge of the Rio Grande project, has made computations 
of the amount of silt carried by the Rio Grande. He arrives at the 
conclusion that the river carries, on the average, 14,580 acre-feet of 
mud a year, or enough when dry to cover 14,580 acres 1 foot deep. 
The computation, although made for the purpose of estimating the 
time required to fill the reservoirs with mud, is useful in this con- 
nection in indicating the possibilities of rapid accumulation wherever 
opportunity is offered. 

During times of flood the river naturally carries its maximum 
amount of silt, which is thus admitted to the sloughs and overflow 
districts and gradually fllls them to the common level of the flood 
plain. A similar action takes place in the irrigation ditches, which 
rapidly fill with silt. Some of the older ditches have thus been built 
up many feet above the level at which they were originally con- 
structed. 



WATER RESOURCES OF RIO GRANDE VALLEY, N. MEX. 25 

RESERVOIR SITES. 

INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT. 

The alternation of erosion basins and rock canyons in the Rio 
Grande Valley is especially favorable for the construction of reser- 
voirs and the conservation and use of the flood waters of the' river. 
Available dam sites occur in the canyons, while the broad basins are 
suitable for storage reservoirs or for irrigation, according to location 
and character. Several reservoir sites have been selected and the 
two most promising ones — the International reservoir, at the south- 
ern end of the region, and the Engle reservoir, west of the Fra Cristobal 
Mountains — have been investigated in detail. 

INTERNATIONAL RESERVOIR. 

The proposed International reservoir is located at the southern end 
of Mesilla Valley and was designed by its promoters to store water to 
be used in El Paso Valley, which lies partly in Texas and partly in 
Mexico. The dam site is in the canyon about 4 miles north of the 
city of El Paso. 

El Paso Canyon is a narrow gorge carved in solid rock, consisting of 
Lower Cretaceous sediments and eruptive rocks. The strata have 
been considerably fractured and faulted. Rodadero Peak, to the 
west, has a granitic core overlain by highly inclined Lower Creta- 
ceous sandstones, shales, and limestones. East of the river the strata 
lie more nearly horizontal, while in the Franklin Mountains, still 
farther to the east, strata older than Cretaceous dip steeply to th6 
west. The shattered and faulted state of the rock is apparently the 
only geologic condition unfavorable to El Paso Canyon as a good 
dam site. The gorge is narrow, the rock abutments are firm, and the 
depth to bed rock in the channel is not prohibitive, as it is found at a 
maximum depth of little more than 80 feet. The site has been 
described in detail in the report of the International (Water) 
Boundary Commission. « 

Although the dam site of the proposed reservoir is a good one, 
geologic conditions are not favorable to the successful storage of 
water in the southern part of Mesilla Valley. As previously pointed 
out, the old gravel-filled valley of the Rio Grande passes southward 
into Mexico west of Rodadero Peak. The water of the reservoir 
would be impounded in the basin eroded from the unconsolidated 
gravels of the old valley fillings and would undoubtedly escape to some 
extent through these gravels until such time as they might become 
impervious from silting. It is an open question how much time would 
elapse before this silting would become effective in preventing leakage. 

aProceedings International (Water) Boundary Commission, United States and Mexico, 1903, vols.l 
and 2. 



26 WATER RESOURCES. OF RIO GRANDE VALLEY^ N. MEX. 

ENGLE RESERVOIR. 
LOCATION. 

The proposed Engle reservoir site is located in Engle Valley, west of 
the Fra Cristobal Mountains, and is best reached from Engle, a small 
town on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railwa}^ The site of 
the proposed dam is in the rock canyon near Elephant Butte, a large 
volcanic neck standing near the river, as shown in PL IX. 

ROCK FORMATIONS. 

The rocks near the proposed reservoir are of several kinds. In the 
mountains, a few miles distant, there are pre-Cambrian granites over- 
lain by Paleozoic and Mesozoic sandstones, shales, and limestones, 
and in the valleys there are Tertiary and Quaternary sands, gravels, 
and eruptive rocks. The rocks that will probably be of economic 
importance in building the proposed dam are the Carboniferous lime- 
stones and shales of the Caballos Mountains, the Cretaceous sand- 
stones forming the abutments of the dam and comprising the greater 
part of the area mapped in PL VIII as ^^rock," also shown in the fore- 
ground of PL IX, and the basaltic rock found in Elephant Butte and 
in the dikes of that vicinity, as well as in the lava flows and crater 
cones on the Jornada to the east, shown in the distance in PL IX. 

The unconsolidated sands and gravels of Tertiary and Quaternary 
age are mainly of negative importance, since they form the floor and 
confining walls of the reservoir and endanger leakage. 

STRUCTURE. 

The geologic structure in the vicinity of Elephant Butte has been 
described in a general way under the heading ' ^ Central area " ( pp . 9- 1 6) , 
where it is shown that the face of the Fra Cristobal and Caballos 
mountain ranges (see PL VII) are due to faulting and that the detri- 
tal valleys are due to the filling of the troughs thus formed with rock 
debris. The structure is illustrated in detail in the Elephant Butte 
area, a map and cross section of which are given in PL VIII. The 
fault at the western base of the mountains passes through this region, 
separating the unconsolidated detrital beds to the west from the rock 
formations to the east. The rocks, consisting mainly of Upper 
Cretaceous sandstones and shales, are more or less fractured near 
the fault and incline in a general easterly direction, the dip varying 
from about 10° to 90°. 

The high lava-covered surface, shown at the right in the section 
PL VIII and in the distance in PL IX, is the western edge of the Jornada 
del Muerto. About 300 feet below this level and 150 feet above the 
river a broad terrace is cut in the sandstones east of the fault line and in 



ENGLE KESERVOIR, SPILLWAY. 27 

the detrital beds west of the fault. Tliis terrace is traceable through- 
out the length of Engle and Las Palomas valleys and is most conspicuous 
west of the river, where it forms a shelf several miles wide in places. 
It differs from the terraces illustrated in fig. 1 in being a surface 
mainly of erosion, probabl}^ formed at a time when the down cutting 
of the river was temporarily arrested, for some reason as yet unknown, 
during which time the river cut laterally, flowing in part over the rock 
and in part over the detrital beds to the west, crossing and recrossing 
the fault line. ^Ylien the river resumed its down cutting it eroded a 
canyon partly in rock and partly in detritus, as shown in PI. VIII, 
instead of taking the course to the west, where no hard rock would 
have been encountered. 

SPILLWAY. 

The ease with which erosion is accomplished in the detrital beds is 
well illustrated in the three oxbows formed west of the fault line, 
where the river passes from the rock into the detritus. The southern 
and middle bows are now only 2 miles apart and are separated by a 
ridge of detrital material already partly eroded away. The spillway 
of the Engle reservoir has been located tentatively in this depression. 
Considered from the topography alone the depression is an excellent 
location for a spillway, since the waters from the overflowing reservoir 
would escape at a point far enough away from the dam to insure the 
safety of that structure. The nature of the rock, however, must also 
be considered. 

A small valley heading in the spillway at the summit of this ridge 
is indicated in PI. VIII. The map was not completed to the south 
but a similar valley extends from the spillway southward to the bend in 
the river at the northern end of the Caballos Mountains. These val- 
leys have been carved from the unconsolidated sediments by such 
temporary streams as result from the drainage of a very small area, a 
fact distinctly unfavorable to the location of the spillway of a great 
reservoir in material so easily eroded. 

The proposed spillway is close to the fault line and it is possible that 
solid rock might be found at no great depth beneath the surface. In 
a small valley south of the spillway sandstones occur in a nearly ver- 
tical position. But whether these are near enough to the surface to 
warrant the establishment of a spillway at the point proposed remains 
to be determined. 

A spillway constructed near the dam might have the disadvantage 
of greater cost, since it would require the excavation of a considerable 
amount of hard rock, but the advantage of greater durability and the 
absence of danger from rapid erosion along the course of the over- 
flowing waters would probably more than compensate the additional 
cost. 



28 WATER RESOURCES OF RIO GRANDE VALLEY^ N. MEX. 

CONSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS. 

Building stone.SeversA varieties of building stone are found within 
the Elephant Butte area. Massive limestones and red sandstones of 
Carboniferous age occur in the Caballos Mountains, the northern end 
of which is 1^ miles distant from the site of the proposed dam. Mas- 
sive sandstones of Upper Cretaceous age occur at the dam site in the 
walls of the canyon. Field observations indicate that these will 
probably prove valuable for purposes of construction. But the 
strongest and most durable as well as the most accessible building 
stone is the basalt of Elephant Butte, which occurs close to the dam 
site. (PL VIII.) 

Cement material. — The problem of procuring cement for the con- 
struction of the dam is important. Cement must either be hauled 
about 12 miles from the nearest railway station or manufactured near 
the dam site. Cement material is available in the Elephant Butte 
area. In the northern end of the Caballos Mountains, at the mouth 
of Mescal Canyon, limestone and shale occur in abundance. Samples 
of each were taken and were analyzed in the laboratory of the United 
States Reclamation Service at Berkeley, Cal. The samples were not 
selected by one familiar with the technical requirements of cement 
manufacture, and probably more suitable material may be found. 
The analyses of these samples, given below, must be regarded as pre- 
liminary, but indicate that good cement materials may be found near 
the dam site. 

Analysis of limestone from the northern end qfOahaUos Mountains. 
[C. H. stone, analyst.] 



Silica (SiOg) and insoluble matter.. 7.94 
Alumina (AI.2O3) and forric oxide 

(FeA) 0-80. 

Lime "(CaO) 44. 99 

Magnesia (MgO) 1. 23 

Copper oxide (CuO) 0. 38 

Potassa (K2O) 0. 09 



Soda (Na20) 0. 28 

Sulfur trioxide (SO3) 0. 30 

Carbon dioxide (CO2) calculated to 

combine with CaO 39. 29 



95. 30 
Moisture 0. 11 



Analysis of shale from the northern end ofC'ahallos Mountains. 



Silica (SiOa) - 63. 74 

Ferric oxide (Fe203) 6. 44 

Alumina (AI2O,) 17. 33 

Lime (CaO) 5. 51 

Magnesia (MgO) 1. 86 



Soda (NagO) Undet. 

Potassa (K2O) Undet. 

Sulfuric trioxide (SO3) Trace. 

Ignition loss (H2O, COg) , 

94.88 



RATIONAL ANALYSIS. 



Clay substance - - - 27. 20 

Quaitz - - - 3. 25 

P^eldspathic detritus 69. 55 



SAN ACACIA AND SAN FELIPE RESERVOIES. 29 

SiO * 

The ratio t^ ^ izrVwy =--6 is well within the limits of the ratio 

>2.3 or <3.6. The MgO content is low, and the absence of SO3 makes 
this material one of the purer clays, considered from a technical 
point of view. 

Coal. — Coal has been fomid in Mescal Can3^on about 4 miles south 
of Elephant Butte. Where exposed at the surface the beds are only 
a few inches thick, but are associated with a considerable amount of 
carbonaceous shale. The coal is in the same formation that contains 
valuable deposits of coal at Carthage and other places farther north, 
but the prospects have not been developed. 

SAN ACACIA RESERVOIR. 

The narrow gorge at San Acacia is one of the proposed dam sites of 
the Rio Grande region. The broad Belen Valley, to the north, nar- 
rows abruptly at this point on account of the sheet of basalt which 
here covers the detritus. Measurements made at this point by Mr. 
R. H. Chapman, of the United States Geological Survey, indicate that 
a dam 50 feet high would be 1,200 feet in length and would flood about 
18 square miles to an average depth of 25 feet, thus impounding about 
288,000 acre-feet of w^ater. A higher but longer dam might be con- 
structed, but the maximum possible height is less than 75 feet above 
the river bed, the limiting factor being the broad sand gap to the north- 
west, the surface of which is about 75 feet above the river level. 

Probably the most serious objection to San Acacia Gorge as a dam 
site is found in the nature of the rock. The hard basalt, which main- 
tains the steep walls of the gorge, is a comparatively thin sheet resting 
on unconsolidated sand and gravel, cut by basalt dikes representing 
the vents through which the material of the sheet was extruded. 
Judging from surface indications, there is little prospect of finding 
solid rock sufficiently near the surface to be useful as a foundation for 
a dam, and the loose gravels would probably allow serious loss of 
impounded waters by leakage. 

SAN FELIPE RESERVOIR. 

Little can be added to the published description ^ of this gorge as a 
reservoir site. The proposed dam would be 2,350 feet long and would 
submerge only 1,511 acres. San Felipe gorge is similar to that at San 
Acacia in being formed by flows of basalt capping unconsolidated 
sands and gravels. At this point there are two flows of basalt sepa- 
rated by a few feet of sand, as shown in the cross section of White 

a Newell, F. H., Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 4, 1901, pp. 275-276. 



30 WATER EESOURCES OF KIO GRANDE VALLEY, N. MEX. 

Rock Caii3^oii, ^iven in fig. 2. The material to an unknown depth 
beneath the lava sheet is sand and gravel, rendering the gorge unde- 
sirable as a dam site. 

ESPANOLA RESERVOIR. 

The Espanola dam site, located at the head of White Rock Cannon' 
has been described ^ as consisting of clay beds in which blocks of basalt 
are embedded, the unconsolidated material extending indefinitely 
beneath the bed of the river. Near this site thick beds of rhyolite 
tufi", west of the river, and basalt, to the east, rest on the detrital beds, 
as shown in the section forming fig, 2 and in PL IV, B. The absence 



Ml^^^i" , 



oand and gravel o°a °''o 



atlBasalt flow 




Fig. 2.— Section across White Rock Canyon near Espanola dam site. 

of bed rock near the surface makes this locality of doubtful value as 
a dam site. 

The proposed reservoir covers 5,437 acres and lias a capacity of 
186,861 acre-feet. 

WATER SUPPLY. 

SURFACE WATERS. 
RAINFALL. 

On account of the great differences in altitude of places that lie 
within short distances of one another in the Rio Grande region the 
amount of rainfall varies greatly from place to place, the mountain 
peaks serving as foci about which local storms gather. Few storms 
occur in which precipitation is uniform over a large area. The greater 
part of the rain falls as local showers close to the hills in which they 
originate. This fact is indicated quantitatively in the following table 
of rainfall, in which the stations nearest the hills show the greatest 
precipitation. At Santa Fe, situated at the base of the Rocky Moun- 
tains, the average yearly precipitation is 14.56 inches, while at San 
Marcial, situated near the center of the Rio Grande region and far 
from high mountains, the average is 4.84 inches and the minimum 
is only 1.17 inches. 

o Newell, F. H., Twenty-first Ann. Kept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 4, 1901, pp. 265-269. 



SURFACE WATERS. 



31 



Table 1. — Rainfall in the Rio Grande region, New Mexico, in inches. 



Locality. 


1896. 


1897. 


1898. 


1899. 


1900. 


1901. 


1902. 


1903. 


1904. 


1905. 
4.20 


Aver- 
age for 

the 
years 

re- 
corded. 




7.02 
7.89 


9.74 
1L49 


6.39 

5.82 


(7. 45) 
6.89 


5.90 
4.89 


10.19 


4.94 


5.83 


6.82 


6. 85 




7.39 




7.71 
8.68 
8.49 


6.64 
10. 15 


8.02 
16.63 


11.46 
11.30 


'i7.'80" 


5. 96 


El Paso 


9.79 
10.84 

8.08 
12.22 
12.21 

7.65 

7.99 


12.41 
16. 89 

"li'.is 


6. 16 
14.38 
7.78 
9.30 
10.54 


7.30 
7.72 
6. 25 
(11.59) 
4.60 


7.95 
6.03 
10. 20 

"6.' 43' 
6.05 
8.40 


10.82 


Engle 

Espanola - 


10. 72 






8 08 


16.49 






12.30 


Hillsboro 







10 18 








10.45 
10.13 


"17." 69' 


8.71 


MesilJa Park 


8. 96 
11.74 

'26.' 40' 
10.^1 


11.21 
n. 13 

'i2."97" 


9.67 


11.96 


10.90 


10.29 


10.65 




11.44 




6.55 
14.28 


6.78 
10.15 
7.71 


'is.' 89' 
7.05 


L17 
17.41 
10.06 








4.84 


Santa Fe 


13. 36 


9.79 


14.19 


17.22 
22.40 


14 56 




11.57 















General average for the Rio Grande region. 



9.57 



EVAPORATION. 

Evaporation throughout the Rio Grande Valley greatly exceeds the 
rainfall. Records for only three years are obtainable, but these were 
made near the extremities of the region here considered, and probably 
represent adequately the evaporation for the entire area. The first 
was made at the International dam site near El Paso during the year 
1890. ^ Those for the years 1900 and 1903 were made at the Climato- 
logical Laboratory of the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque.^ 

Table 2. — Evaporation in the Rio Grande region, in inches. 



At Albu- 
querque 
for 1903. 



January. 
February 
March . .'. 

April 

Ma y 

June 

July 



At Inter- 




1 


national 


At Albu- 


At Albu- 


reservoir 


querque 


querque 


site for 


for 1900. 


for 1903. 


1890. 


, 




2.0 


2.04 


1.81 


2.0 


2.63 


2.07 


7.0 


6.17 


5.21 1 


7.3 


6.82 


10.05 \ 


10.8 


10.08 


10.98 


11.2 


12.63 


11.33 


9.6 


11.78 


12.36 



August 

September. 
October . .. 
November. 
December . 

Total 



At Inter- 
national 
reservoir 
site for 
. 1890. 


At Albu- 
querque 
for 1900. 


11.4 
9.2 
6.8 
4.6 
2.9 


10.21 
8.00 
4.38 
1.73 
1.40 


84.8 


77.87 



11.73 
9.65 
6.62 
4.21 

1.88 



87.90 



Average for three years, 83.5. 



DRAINAGE. 

The drainage area of the Rio Grande north of El Paso, according 
to the reports of stream measurements made by the United States 
Geological Survey, is 38,000 square miles, of which 7,695 square 
miles lie north of Cenicero, Colo., leaving about 30,000 square miles 
as the area of the drainage basin within New Mexico. 

The Rio Grande is mainly a flood-water stream and is subject to 
great fluctuations in volume. Its permanent flow is slight and is 

a Thirteenth Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 3, 1890-91, p. 411. 

b Weinzirl, John, Bull. Hadley Climatological Laboratory, Univ. New Mexico, vol. 11, No. 10, 1905, pp. 
5-8. 



32 



WATER EESOURCES OF RIO GRANDE VALLEY^ N. MEX. 



derived mainly from the mountains north and east of the area 
described. The tributaries within the Rio Grande region yield little 
permanent supply, although Galisteo Creek and Rio Puerco contribute 
small volumes of water during the greater part of the year. Many 
of the tributary channels carry small perip.anent streams near their 
heads in the hills, but the water in most of these sinks beneath the 
surface before reaching the river. 

The floods that supply the greater part of the flow of the Rio 
Grande are of two general kinds, one due to the annual melting of 
snows in the mountains, often accompanied by general rain storms, 
the other due to local showers or ^^cloud-bursts." The first occur 
regularly, but those due to local showers are very irregular, both in 
volume and in time of occurrence. Sometimes the river bed is dry 
for several months and at other times it carries disastrous floods, 
the yearly discharge, for example, at. El Paso, varying from 50,768 
to 2,011,794 acre-feet, or a proportion approximating 1:40. 

The records of discharge kept by the Geological Survey since 
1897 at El Paso, San Marcial, and Ildefonso, and since 1899 at Ceni- 
cero, near the Colorado and New Mexico boundary, are as follows: 

Table 3. — Monthly discharge of the Rio Grande, in acre-feet. 
EL PASO, TEX. 



Month. 



1900. 



1901. 



1902. 



1903. 



January 18, 754 

.February 10, 774 

March I 4, 427 

April 103,537 

May 511, 088 

June 362,677 

July 81,770 

August 8, 116 

September 41,950 

October 108,096 

November 67,359 

December 41,812 



Year. 



1,360,360 669. 



30, 129 

33,655 

20, 044 

97,944 

140, 192 

111,570 

196, 269 

31,236 

2,262 

160 

119 

5,718 



73,503 



8,110 

5,680 

460 

300 

44,810 

93, 100 

70 



16,483 





738 



169, 751 



278 

4,502 

3,669 



158, 102 

77, 038 

12, 576 

60, 655 

21,005 

5,336 

12,813 

7, 993 



8,291 
5,772 

635 
7,904 

526 

307 

20 

14,499 

9,313 

1,428 

298 
1,775 



363,967 



50, 768 



615 

1,289 

22, 602 

49, 468 

203, 623 

586, 909 

158, 202 

4,334 

1,031 

2,033 

298 

2,440 

1,032,844 



972 

387 











7,398 

10, 959 

366, 486 

48, 397 

38, 182 



35, 920 

43, 309 

188, 489 

197,911 

545, 950 

851,147 

58, 800 

19,785 

3,322 

4,225 

25, 458 

37,478 



472, 781 



2,011,794 



Total for nine years, 6,205,066; average for nine years, 689,452. 

SAN MARCIAL, N. MEX. 



Month. 



January . . 
February. 
March . . . . 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August . .. 
September 
October... 
November 
December. 

Year 



1897. 



19, 553 

24,325 

40, 767 

212,548 

755, 196 

366,426 

65 977 

6,149 

114,188 

281,677 

175, 715 

152, 736 



2,215,257 



57,675 

59, 425 

62, 164 

271,458 

165, 832 

126, 268 

167,062 

13.835 

4,641 

1,230 

11,722 

23, 365 



964,677 



1899. 



27,854 

24,603 

27, 546 

54, 089 

35, 048 

952 

28, 407 

6,395 

2,916 

676 

9,521 

21,828 



239,835 



1900. 



40, 582 

35, 099 

33, 203 

6,248 

123,590 

159, 888 

123 



73, 190 

123 

2,440 

10,084 



484,570 



1901. 



24,718 
25, 468 
15,114 
23, 683 
256, 126 
96, 178 
59, 286 
65, 534 
37.607 
17,018 
20, 053 
19, 240 



,025 



22, 731 
17, 435 

7,954 
40, 106 
26, 787 

6,407 



49,210 

13,349 

823 

4,641 
11,286 



200,729 



1903. 



17, 197 

21,927 

46, 790 

100, 007 

318, 367 

660, 476 

77, 841 

3,064 

1,438 

545 

5,534 

18, 883 



1,272, 



1904. 



16, 840 

18,902 

6,060 







10,532 

55,974 

44, 727 

463, 240 

51,769 

41, 752 



709, 796 



1905. 



39, 114 

63, 868 

217, 904 

279, 392 

962, 221 

714,268 

35, 782 

20, 093 

5,276 

7,349 

42, 397 

34, 344 



2, 422, 008 



Total fornine years, 9,168,966; average for nine years 1,018,774, 



UNDERGROUND WATERS. 



83 



Table 3.— Monthly discharge of the Rio Grande, in acre-feet — Continued. 
ILDEFONSO, N. MEX. 



Month. 


1897. 


1898. : 1899. 


1900. 


1901. 


1902. 1903. 

! 


1904. 


1905. 


January 

February 


28, 715 

30, 101 

60, 750 

303,113 

702, 254 

366, 128 

97, 274 

27,423 

40, 463 

136, 196 

71,881 

32,220 


21,705 26,009 

24,936 35,599 

33,449 ; 81,164 

265,864 176,430 

200,328 ! 117,687 

223,973 ■ 23,742 

161,590 ' 36,647 

39,168 i 22,197 

19,279 53,137 

21,890 ! 26,563 

35,583 : 44,985 

39,168 ! 38,184 


36, 770 
32, 322 
52, 818 
51,531 
211,517 
173, 395 
18, 262 
10, 145 
42, 605 
23, 796 
25,289 
29,022 


24,410 
36,543 
45, 624 
83, 425 
319, 367 
130, 850 
44, 824 
50, 850 
34,512 
30, 190 
27,491 
28, 468 


29,643 
27, 183 
33,709 
97, 577 
73,567 
28,215 
16, 730 
34, 165 
28, 790 
17, 157 
18, 386 
19, 220 


23, 127 
24, 724 
75, 193 
172, 324 
406,612 
709, 468 
136, 780 
26,563 
22,314 
21,828 
25, 170 
23,611 


20,910 
24, 220 
21,340 
27,310 
24, 160 
17, 020 
15, 130 
91,990 
148, 300 
252, 800 
49, 450 
35, 420 


43,470 
51,590 
158, 100 


April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September 

October 

November 

December 


218, 900 
785,200 
572, 700 
53, 740 
38, 680 
23, 150 
25, 950 
37,960 
37,940 


Year 


1,896,518 


1,086,933 ! 682,344 

i 


707,472 


856,554 


424,342 1,667,714 


728,050 


2,047,380 



Total for nine years, 10,097,307; average for eight years, 1,121,923. 

CENICERO, COLO. 



Month. 



January... 
February.. 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September. 
October... 
November. 
December. 



Year. 



) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

) 

582 

259 

069 

194 

412 

553 



1900. 



39, 229 

42, 153 

35, 847 

20, 826 

87, 927 

84, 734 

1,783 

1,353 

1,845 

2,275 

9,223 

35, 109 



362, 304 



1901. 



36, 524 

32, 267 

22, 443 

16, 542 

103, 299 

61, 408 

5,041 

3, 689 

2,975 

3,320 

4,284 

20, 721 



312,513 



1902. 



32, 035 

42,097 

33, 757 

18,744 

30, 129 

6,783 

1,353 

1,045 

1,547 

1,968 

1,785 

2,275 



173,518 



1903. 



1,537 
1,388 
2,091 

18, 684 
123, 713 
379, 339 

72, 432 
2,890 
5, 355 
3, 935 

12, 674 

18, 569 



642, 607 



1904. 



1905. 



18, 820 

23, 990 

7,563 

9,104 

1,322 

1,208 

1,076 

8,608 

11,660 

97, 770 

24, 750 

53, 310 



59, 640 

66, 370 

53, 490 

44, 270 

399, 300 

507, 600 

15, 860 

9,469 

3,725 

6,044 

12, 850 

31, 730 



259,181 1,210,000 



a No record. 
Total for six years, complete, 2,960,123; average for six years, 493,354. 

UNDERGROUND WATERS. 

The Rio Grande region embraces several more or less separate geo- 
logic provinces and the underground-water resources may be most 
conveniently described by districts. 

SANTA FE DISTRICT. 

The Santa Fe district is located in the Rocky Mountains region on 
the Rio Grande north of Galisteo Creek. The strata, composed of 
partially consolidated sands, gravels, and beds of mountain wash of 
Tertiary age, dip to the west away from the mountains. The incli- 
nation of the strata and their exposure in the region of greatest pre- 
cipitation within the area described are favorable to the occurrence 
of artesian water. 

Only two deep wells have been sunk in these deposits, and in neither 

of them was water found under notable pressure. The first one, 

drilled several years ago in search of artesian water, is 8 miles south 

of Santa Fe. In this no surface flow was obtained. The second, 

iRR 188—07 3 



34 AVATER RESOURCES OF RIO GRANDE VALLEY^ N. MEX. 

drilled in 1905 at the Santa Fe Indian School, is a 12-inch well, 989 feet 
deep, and penetrates angular wash principally except for 75 feet of 
conglomerate encountered at a depth of 225 feet. Water was found 
at a depth of 100 feet and rose 44 feet, but its volume is small and the 
supply is easily exhausted by pumping. Water was also obtained in 
the 75 feet of conglomerate and in several thin gravel strata not 
recorded. This well is on comparatively high ground, its altitude 
being about 7,000 feet, and near the eastern or highest part of the 
detrital formation. It is probable that on lower ground, nearer the 
river, water might be found under pressure sufficient to produce sur- 
face flows. Water emerges from this formation as springs along the 
river at an altitude about 1,500 feet lower than that at Santa Fe and 
along the lower reaches of Santa Fe Creek. At La Cienaga, 12 miles 
southwest of Santa Fe and about 700 feet lower, there are several 
springs of sufficient volume to irrigate a considerable tract of land. 

Record of well at Santa Fe Indian School. 

Feet. 

Mountain wash 0-225 

Conglomerate 225-300 

Mountain wash 300-989 

ALBUQUERQUE DISTRICT. 

The Albuquerque district may be considered as extending from 
Galisteo Creek southward to Isleta. The geologic formations, so far 
as they have been penetrated by wells, are composed of unconsolidated 
material and carry no water under pressure. Water saturates the 
flood-plain material to the level of the river and is found in abundance 
wherever wells penetrate to that level. 

A few wells sunk on the ^^mesa" east of Albuquerque obtain water 
at horizons somewhat higher than that of the river. A well at the 
University of New Mexico,'' 1 mile east of Albuquerque, is 240 feet 
deep and contains water at a depth of 200 feet, about 20 feet higher 
than the river level, while the '^military well," 7 miles east of Albu- 
querque, contains water at a depth of 420 feet, or about 130 feet above 
the river level. 

The deepest well in this district, 710 feet, is in Albuquerque, at the 
city waterworks. It is a 12-inch double-steel-cased well, to which 
water is admitted only below a depth of 350 feet. In addition to this 
deep well the water company owns seven 6-inch wells and one 12-inch 
well, each 291 feet deep, and a 65-foot dug well, from the bottom of 
which 25 pipes are driven to depths of 35 feet, the water being admit- 
ted only from the bottom of these pipes, or 100 feet below the surface. 

a Weinzirl, John, Bull. Hadley Climatological Laboratory of University of New Mexico, vol. 10, 
1905, p. 12. 



UNDEKGROUND Wi\TERS, BELEN DISTRICT. 35 

All the wells together yield an average of 3,000,000 gallons a day, or 
2,083 gallons a minute. 

The 710-foot well has been tested alone and yielded 600 gallons a 
minute, with a local depression of the water surface within the well of 
18 feet. 

Record of the city waterworhs well at Albuquerque, N. Mex. 

Feet. 

Soil 0- 10 

Sand and coarse gravel 10- 35 

Clay 35-40 

Sand and coarse gravel . 40- 71 

Cemented sand 71- 75 

Clay - 75-80 

Cemented sand and bands of ''sandstone " 80-179 

Saad and gravel 179-185 

Clay 185-189 

Cemented sand and clay 189-243 

Yellow clay 243-292 

Cemented sand 292-320 

Yellow clay - 320-362 

Sand and clay 362-386 

Shale and sand 386-397 

Cemented sand 397-442 

Yellow clay 442-456 

Cemented sand . 456-471 

Sand and clay 471-487 

Clay, sand, and gravel 487-572 

Quicksand 572-614 

Clay and cemented sand 614-710 

BELEN DISTRICT. 
GENERAL CONDITIONS. 

The Belen district extends from Isleta southw^ard to a point a few 
miles north of Socorro, where the Rio Grande Valley narrows between 
the encroaching hills, as show^n in PI. I. Through the center of this 
district extends the erosion basin known as Belen Valley. The surface 
of the broad flood plain formed by the deposits flooring the valley 
stands only a few feet above the river bed, and the material composing 
the deposits is saturated with w ater. wShallow wells throughout the 
bottom land reach this water at depths of 5 to 15 feet and readily 
obtain it in large quantity. 



The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company's well, 1.5 
miles south of Belen, is the only one within this district from which a 
large and constant supply is pumped. It is a dug well, 15 feet deep 
and 20 feet in diameter, and contains 7 feet of water. It has yielded 



36 WATER EESOUECES OF RIO GRANDE VALLEY, N. MEX. 

50,000 gallons a day, and would probably yield more if necessary. 
The well is situated on the flood plain of the river in gravel and coarse 
sand, and the water level in the well rises and falls with that of the 
river. 

No important deep wells have been sunk on the lowlands of the 
Belen district. One at the Belen flour mill, 35 feet deep, o^vned by 
John Becker, and another at the Catholic Church, 85 feet deep, are 
the deepest. 

Three deep wells have been bored in the mesa gravels. One at Col- 
orado siding, on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railwa}^ bra* ch, 
known as the Belen cut-off, is 500 feet deep and contains 34 feet of 
water. This well is 9 miles southeast of Belen (altitude, 4,788 feet)^ 
at an elevation of 5,012 feet, or 224 feet higher than Belen, the water 
level in this well being 234 feet lower than the water at Belen. 

Record of Atchison, Tojpeka and Santa Fe Railway Company's well at Colorado siding, New 

Mexico. 

Feet. 

Soil 1-24 

Sand - 24-290 " 

Light-colored clay 290-340 

Red sandy clay 340-500 

At Becker siding, 15 miles southeast of Belen, the railway company 
has a 6-inch bored well, 427 feet deep, with water standing 364 feet 
below the surface. The altitude at the well is 5,140 feet, or 352 feet 
above Belen, making the water level in the well 4 feet lower than that 
in the valley at Belen. 

Record of Atchison, Topelca and Santa Fe Railway Company's well at BecJcer siding. New 

' Mexico. 

Feet. 

Cemented gravel 0-100 

Red clay 100-150 

Red clay and gravel . 1 50-275 

Red clay 275-290 

Red clay and gravel 290-300 

Red clay and gravel, Mnth bowlders 300-340 

Gravel 340-345 

Red clay and gravel, with bowlders 34.5-378 

Gravel 378-388 

Red clay and gravel 388-400 

Water bearing gravel 400-420 

Gravel and clay 420-427 

At Sandia, a siding on the main line of the Atchison, Topeka and 
Santa Fe Railway, west of Isleta, the railway company bored a 12- 
inch well (S93 feet deep during the summer of 1905. It is in sand, 
gravel, and clay throughout, and encountered water at a depth of 
445 feet. 



UNDEKGROUND WATERS, JORNADA DISTRICT. 37 

Record of Atchison, Topel-a and Santa Fe Railway Compani/'s well at Sandia, N. Mex. 

F(>e(,. 

Unconsolidated sand ()-34() 

Sand, with clay bands - - . - - 340-400 

Clay ' - - - - 400-440 

Sand - - 440-480 

Gravel - - - - 480-490 

Sand, with clay bands 490-530 

Sand - -- 530-585 

Clay - - - - 585-640 

Sand and clay -- 640-893 

JORNADA DISTRICT. 

GEOLOGIC STRUCTURE. 

The Jornada district extends from San Marcial to Las Cruces, 
between the San Andreas and the Caballos-Fra Cristobal mountain 
ranges. The geologic structure of the Jornada del Muerto has been 
described ^ as a s}Ticline, in which the older or consolidated rocks pass 
underneath the unconsolidated material which covers the surface. 

Along the eastern base of the Caballos-Fra Cristobal range the 
upturned Cretaceous sandstones are truncated and exposed in such a 
way as to freely admit the water crossing them as streams from the 
mountains, as well as that falling upon them as rain. These sand- 
stones are not exposed elsewhere within the Jornada district, and it is 
uncertain whether they occupy the entire trough of the syncline, as 
stated by Keyes.^ 

The Jornada del Muerto, as has been previously stated, is probably 
a part of the old Rio Grande Valley that has been filled with uncon- 
solidated sands and gravels of comparatively recent origin. This 
material has been penetrated by wells to a depth of 360 feet, but its 
total depth h^.s not been determined and very little is yet known of 
the underground conditions in this region. The Cretaceous sand- 
stones may extend without interruption beneath the detrital filling, 
or, if they were originally present, may have been largely eroded 
away previous to the deposition of the detritus. 

FLOWING WELLS. 

In the vicinity of Engle flowing water is obtained from three wells, 
which penetrate the Cretaceous sandstones. One about 10 miles 
northwest of Engle, near the base of the Fra Cristobal Mountains, is 
said to be 260 feet deep. The flow is not suflicient to water a few 
hundred cattle for which it is used, and the water is pumped to 
increase the yield. 

a Keyes, C. R., Water-Sup. and Irr. Paper No. 123, U. S. Geol. Survey, 1905. 
b Ibid., p. 10 (geologic map). 



38 



WATER EESOURCES OF EIO GRANDE VALLEY^ N. MEX. 



The other wells belong to the Santa Fe Railway Company and the 
water is pumped to Engle for railway use. The wells are located in 
the canyon leading from Engle to the Rio Grande. .One near old 
Fort McRae was drilled to a depth of about 1,200 feet in search of 
coal. No coal was found, but water was encountered under pressure 
sufficient to produce a considerable surface flow but not great enough 
to raise it to the level of the town. From this well and a second one 
put down about 2 miles farther east water is pumped into a reservoir 
on the Jornada, from which it flows to Engle by gravity. 



NONFLOWIISG AVELLfi. 



A number of wells have been bored in the Jornada del Muerto, but 
definite records of only a few of them are obtainable. Those near the 
western border of the plain, along the railroad, penetrate the Creta- 
ceous sandstones and find water under slight pressure, but the greater 
number have been bored in depressions along the center of the plain 
and penetrate only unconsolidated sand, gravel, and wash. The 
record of Mr. Linger's well may be taken as representative of the 
material found in the center of the Jornada. 



Record of well of 6. W. Linger <& Company, 5 miles east of Upham. 

Feet. 

Red clay ." 1-10 

Cement 10-19 

Sand and silt 10-235 

Bowlders (maximum diameter, 8 inches) 23.5-240 

Partial records obtained of a few of the wells are given in the fol- 
lowing table: 

Table 4. — Records of bored wells in the Jornada del Muerto. 



Owner. 


Location. 


Total 
depth 


Depth to 
water. 


Power 
used. 


Remarks. 


J. D.Isaacks 

Do 


Sec. 35, T. 20S., R. 2E.. 

Sec. 2.5, T 21 S., R.2 E.. 
Sec. 13, T. 20 S., R.2 E.. 
Sec. 17, T. 19 S., R.2 E.. 

8 miles west of Engle 

2 miles south of Upliam . 
1 mile west of Alaman. . . 
Alaman 


Feet. 
265 

330 
115 
360 

1,200 

480 
400 
140 
200 

500 
240 

3.50 


Feet. 
2.10 

292 

95 

345 

Flow. 

140 

•No water 

140 


Wind 

Gasoline.. 

Wind 

do.... 

Gasoline.. 
Steam 


Penetrates 35 feet soil; 

23 feet sand and 

gravel 
In sand and gravel. 


Do 




J.W.Taylor 

A.,T.andS.F.Rwy 
Do 


Penetrates 345 feet an- 
gular material, with 
15 feet rounded bowl- 
ders. 

In sandstone and 
shale. 


Do 




L. Baldwin & Co 


Steam 


Water raised 100 feet. 




4 miles north of Engle. . . 

10 miles north of Engle. . 

5 miles northeast of 
Upham. 

18 miles east of Rincon . . 


In red sandstone. 


Cattle Co 

Do 


492 
236 

300(?) 


Gasoline.. 
do.... 

do.... 


Water raised 327 feet. 


G. W. Linger & Co. 
Mr. Turner 


Sand and gravels 
(maximum 6 inches 
in diameter) at bot- 
tom. Water raised 
102 feet. 

In sand and gravel. 



UNDEKGKOUND WATERS, MESA DISTRICT. 39 



INDICATIONS OF ARTESIAN WATER. 



The occurrence of water under pressure in several wells near Engle 
indicates the presence of artesian conditions beneath a small area of 
the Jornada, but in areas lying beyond the immediate vicinity of 
Engle the presence or absence of artesian water must be inferred 
entirely from surface indications. Since water is found in the Cre- 
taceous sandstones near Engle it might be expected in wells that 
penetrate these sandstones elsewhere, provided the sandstones extend 
uninterruptedly beneath the surface in this region. Their extent, 
however, and their depth beneath the surface over the greater part 
of the Jornada are unknown. 

The water in the unconsolidated gravel beds may perhaps be con- 
fined beneath impervious layers, since the Jornada del Muerto slopes 
southward at an average rate of 4 J feet to the mile, but nothing now 
known proves either the presence or absence of such layers. The 
surface indications are moderately favorable to the occurrence of 
artesian water in certain areas, particularly at the southern end of 
the Jornada and still farther south, in the Mesilla Valley. 

LA MESA DISTRICT. 

La Mesa district lies in the southern part of the Rio Grande 
region west of Mesilla Valley. Wells have been sunk in various parts 
of this district, both for railroad use and for stock purposes. No 
solid rock was encountered in any of the wells, most of which 
find water in abundance, but at a considerable depth, as indicated 
in Table 5. The deepest well on La Mesa, 945 feet, was bored by 
the vSouthern Pacific Railway Company at Lanark. The company 
owns two other wells at the same place, one 648 feet and one 615 
feet deep, the three yielding 50 gallons of water a minute. The 
material penetrated is sand with small waterworn pebbles, and con- 
tains water below a depth of 380 feet. 

Since the altitude of Lanark is 4,156 feet, the altitude of the water 
surface is 3,776 feet, while that at Bosque Seco, in Mesilla Valley, 
15 miles northeast of Lanark, is 3,800 feet — 24 feet higher than at 
Lanark. At Noria, the altitude of which is 4,114 feet, the water 
surface, 358 feet below the surface of the land, is 3,756 feet above 
sea level. In the 12 miles between Lanark and Noria the water 
surface inclines to the south 20 feet, or at an average rate of 1.7 
feet per mile. A line drawn through Bosque Seco, Lanark, and 
Noria would run somewhat west of the center of the old debris- 
filled valley of the Rio Grande for a distance of 27 miles. Along 
this line there is a fall of the water surface of 44 feet, or an average 
of 1.7 feet per mile. The gradient of the water table in Mesilla 
Valley between Bosque Seco (3,800 feet) and the southern end of 



40 



WATER RESOURCES OF RIO GRANDE VALLEY^ N. MEX. 



Mesilla Valley (3,680 feet), a distance of about 32 miles, is 3.7 feet 
per mile. It is evident from these facts that the surface of the 
underground water has a regular gradient down the old channel 
through La Mesa, although it is less than the gradient of the river. A 
line of wells a few miles farther east in the center of the old valley 
would probably show a steeper gradient of the water plane. 

The facts upon which the determination of gradient rests are not 
sufficiently numerous to make it conclusive. The depths to water 
determined and the indications that La Mesa is a part of the 
ancient debris-filled valley naturally leads to the inference that the 
course of the underflow should be southward through the detritus of 
La Mesa. It is possible, on the one hand, that additional data 
will show a gradient steeper than 1.7 feet per mile. On the other 
hand, it is possible that the original course of the underflow down 
the old channel has been reversed by reason of the down cutting of 
the river in Mesilla Valley and the accumulation of surface water in 
the gravels of La Mesa. The latter possibility is strengthened by the 
facts that La Mesa is nearly level and the material so porous that 
rain enters it without producing even temporary streams. 

Table 5. — Records of hored wells in La Mesa district. 



Owner. 



Henry Brock 

Do 

Do 

Mr. Hawkins 

Robert Herrington 

J. F. Kilburn 

Do 

S. P. Rwy. Co 

Lewis Bros 

J. B. Stabling 

Do 

El Paso and S. W. 
Rwy. 

Do 



Location. 



Sec. 30, T. 25 S., R. 2 W. 

Sec. 7, T. 24S., R. 1 W.. 
T. 24 

5 miles west of Picacho 
Mountain. 

2 miles northwest of 

Noria. 
T. 27 S., R. 1 W 

6 miles northwest of 
Lanark. 

Lanark 

5 miles northeast of 
Lanark. 

10 miles west of Lanark 

6 miles west of Lanark. 
Potrillo 

Noria 



Total 
depth. 


Depth to 
water. 


Power 
used. 


Feet. 
240 


Feet. 
221 


Gasoline.. 


430 
515 
218 


386 


do.... 


170 


Gasoline.. 


435 


350 


do.... 


a 478 
388 


408 
370 




Gasoline.. 


945 
365 


380 
340 


Steam 

Gasoline.. 


6 460 
350 
240 


440 
311 
220 


Gasoline.. 
do.... 


438 


358 


do.... 

! 



Material encountered. 



Sand and waterworn 
gravels. 
Do. 
Clay. 



Sand and gravel. 

Do. 
Sand and waterworn 
gravel. 

Do. 
Sand and gravel. 



Sand and clay. 
Sand and gravel. 



a 170 feet in bottom of crater. 



b 200 feet in bottom of crater. 



MESILLA DISTRICT. 



LOCATION AND CHARACTER. 



The Mesilla district is confined to Mesilla Valley, the southernmost 
of the erosion basins of the Rio Grande region. During fioods the 
river submerges a large part of the valley floor, a level flood plain 
formed by the deposition of silt and fine sand. As previously stated 
(p. 24), Mesilla Valley was once deeper than it is now, and has been 
recently filled to some extent by flood-plain deposits. The geologic 



UNDERGROUND WATERS, MESILLA DISTRICT. 41 

formations and their relation to one another are indicated in the sec- 
tions on PL III. The rock basin was partly filled with debris, in 
which a secondary valley was eroded and later partly filled with sand 
and silt. 

WATER TABLE. 

Underground water is found throughout Mesilla Valley at practi- 
cally the river level. The depth to water was measured in the wells in 
the valley, and the results were plotted on the contour maps prepared 
by the United States Reclamation Service, and from these the map 
forming PI. X has been prepared, which shows by contours the depth 
to water. 

The water table changes position to some extent, according to 
changes in the volume of water in the river. Professor Slichter" has 
shown that the ground water of the valley is derived largely from the 
river and that the gradient of the water plane in a direction parallel 
to the river is practically constant at 4.64 feet per mile where meas- 
ured near Mesilla Park, while the gradient away from the river varies 
from 0.4 foot per mile during low water to 2.3 feet in times of flood. 
A rise of the water table of 5 feet is reported near the river during the 
six months for which records were kept. 

WELLS OF MESILLA VALLEY. 

General statements. — A number of wells have been bored in Mesilla 
Valley for pumping water in large quantities, mainly for irrigation. 
Twelve of these have been carefully tested by Professor Slichter^ 
with a view to ascertaining their capacity, the cost of pumping, etc. 
Some of his results are included in Table 6 (p. 47) . It should be noted, 
in comparing the figures of the column showing depth to water 
with the map (PI. X), in which depth to water is indicated by con- 
tours, that these wells are usually placed on ground high enough 
to allow the water to flow over the land to be irrigated. The depth 
to water is therefore somewhat greater than the average depth indi- 
cated on the map. 

Wells at Agricultural College. — Several wells have been bored for the 
Agricultural College at Mesilla Park. 

A bored well at the college building is 75 feet deep and 4 inches in 
diameter. Water was encountered at a depth of 43 feet in 1896, but 
in 1903 it was found to have lowered to 53 feet. 

Another 4-inch well at the college machine shop is 120 feet deep. 
Saline water was found at this depth and the pipe was drawn back to 
75 feet, where better water was found. 

An irrigation plant was established in 1902 at the experiment sta- 
tion of the Agricultural College, consisting of one 12-inch and one 

a Slichter, C. S., Observations on the ground waters of Rio Grande Valley: Water-Sup. and Irr. Paper 
No. 141, U. S. Ceol. Survey, 1905, pp. 22-29. 
b Slichter. C. S.. ibid., p. 34. 



42 WATER RESOURCES OF RIO GRANDE VALLEY^ N. MEX. 

6-iiich well, each 48 feet deep. This plant has been described by 
members of the college faculty" in a bulletin of the experiment sta- 
tion. The wells penetrate gravel beds, from which water is readily 
obtained, the yield being about 1,000 gallons a minute. 

Retard of experiment station well. 

Feet. 

Soil 0- 5 

Sand 5-32 

Sand and gravel 32-47 

Sand 47-48 

During the summer of 1905 a pumping plant was installed on the 
horticultural farm near Mesilla Park station. A 12-inch well was 
bored 62 feet deep and an 18-foot strainer was placed at the bottom. 
A pit 8 feet square was dug to water level, 19 feet below the surface. 
It contains a centrifugal pump with gasoline engine, which discharges 
1,000 gallons of water per minute. 

Wells of F. C. Barker. — Mr. Barker has three pumping plants. 
One, at Las Cruces, pumps from a 6-inch well 53 feet deep, which is 
capable of supplying about 150 gallons of water per minute. The 
well penetrates a gravel bed 35 feet thick, which supplies the water. 

Record ofF. C. Earlier' s ivell at Las Cruces 

Feet. 

Soil 0-3 

Sand 3-18 

Gravel and bowlders 18-53 

Mr. Barker's second pumping plant is situated about 1 mile south 
of Las Cruces and consists of a 6-inch well 48 feet deep, supplied with 
pump and gasoline engine which raise 131 gallons of water per 
minute. 

Record of F. C Barlcer's v:ell, 1 mile south of Las Cruces. 

Feet. 

Soil .... 0-8 

Sand 8-16 

Sand and gravel 16-30 

Coarse gravel 30-48 

A third plant is reported to have been established during the sum- 
mer of 1905 near the second. An 8-inch well was bored to a depth of 
85 feet and supplied with centrifugal pump and gasoline engine, which 
raise a volume of water estimated at 800 gallons per minute. 

Record ofF. C. Barker's S-inch well. 

Feet. 

Soil 0-17 

Quicksand 17-36 

Sand and gravel 36-58 

Gravel and bowlders 58-75 

Caliche 75-79 

Sand and gravel 79-85 

a Vernon, John J., and Lester, Francis E., Bull. No. 43, New Mexico College Agric. and Mechanic 
Arts, MesiUa Park, N. Mcx., 1903. 



kl 



UNDERGROUND WATERS, MESILLA DISTRICT. 43 

Well of Mrs. E. M. Boijer. — Mrs. Buyer's well is located on her 
ranch, about one-fourth mile north of the railroad station at Las 
Cruces. It is a 6-inch bored well, 52 feet deep, with a 12-foot strainer. 
Water is raised by a centrifugal pump and 12-horsepower gasoline 
engine at the rate of 658 gallons per minute. 

Record of Mrs. E. M. Boyer's u-ell. 

Feet. 
Soil -- 0- 2 

Sand -- ---- 2-22 

Sand and gravel - — - - 22-52 

Well of Frank Burke. — Mr. Burke's well is located one-half mile 
south of Mesilla Park. It is a 12-inch well, 60 feet deep, with a 12-foot 
strainer. Water is raised by a centrifugal pump and 21-horsepower 
gasoline engine at the rate of 755 gallons per minute. 

Record of Frank BurJce's well. 

Feet. 

Soil -.- 0- 8 

Sand ... - - - - - 8-22 

Sand and gra^-el 22-60 

Well of J. C. Carrera.^-Mx. Carrera's well is located about 1 mile 
south of Las Cruces. It is a 6-inch well, 58 feet deep, with a 15-foot 
strainer. Water is raised by a centrifugal pump and 8-horsepower 
gasoline engine at the rate of 648 gallons per minute. 

Well of Rohert Elwood.^Mr. Elwood, of Las Cruces, constructed a 
pumping plant for irrigation during the summer of 1905, in which two 
8-inch wells 40 feet apart are connected with a 5-inch centrifugal pump 
and 12-horsepower gasoline engine. The first well was bored 100 
feet deep, but the casing was later withdrawn to the 64-foot level, 
where the most productive gravel bed occurs. The second well is 64 
feet deep, and both are supplied with 24-foot strainers. The yield is 
estimated at 800 gallons of water per minute. 

Record of Rohert Elwood^ s well. 

Feet. 

Sand and gravel 0- 32 

Clay 32-35 

Sand and gravel 35- 50 

Cemented sand 50- 52 

Coarse sand and gravel '. 52-1 00 

Well of W. N. Hager. — Mr. Hager's well is located one-half mile 
west of Mesilla Park. It is a 10-inch well, 63 feet deep, with a 12-foot 
strainer. Water is raised by a centrifugal pump and 12-horsepower 
gasoline engine at the rate of 325 gallons per minute. 

Well of A. L. nines. — Mr Hines's well is located 1 mile northeast 
of Mesilla. It is a 6-inch well, 59 feet deep, with an 8-foot strainer. 



44 WATER RESOUECES OF RIO GRANDE VALLEY^ N. MEX. 

Water is raised by a centrifugal pump and 8-horsepower gasoline 
engine jit the rate of 271 gallons per minute. 

Record of A. L. Uines's well. 

Feet. 

Soil 0- 8 

Sand 8-19 

Quicksand 19-47 

Sand and gravel 47-59 

Wells ofHoraco Ranch Company, — The Horaco Ranch Company has 
three wells separated by a few hundred feet and located west of Berino. 

No. 1 is an 8-inch well, 75 feet deep, with an 18-foot strainer. Water 
is raised by a centrifugal pump and 12-horsepower gasoline engine at 
the rate of 837 gallons per minute. 

No. 2 is a 10-inch well, 53 feet deep, with an 18-foot strainer. Water 
is raised by a centrifugal pump and 12-horsepower gasoline engine at 
the rate of 191 gallons per minute. 

No. 3 is a 10-inch well, 62 feet deep, with an 18-foot strainer. Water 
is raised by a centrifugal pump and 12-horsepower gasoline engine at 
the rate of 750 gallons per minute. 

Las Cruces city well. — During the summer of 1905 a pumping plant 
was constructed to furnish the city of Las Cruces with water. A 
6-inch well was bored to a depth of 63 feet and an 18-foot strainer 
placed at the bottom of the pipe in a bed of gravel, occurring below 
the depth of 46 feet. A pit 8 feet square and 20 feet deep contains an 
Advance steam pump, which is placed 2 feet above normal water 
level. The water is drawn by suction from the capped casing at a 
rate of 300 gallons per minute. 

The water drawn from a depth lower than 46 feet is apparently 
much better for domestic use than that obtained from the surface 
wells of Las Cruces. An analysis of the water made by Geo. W. Lord 
Company, of Philadelphia, Pa., is as follows: 

Analysis of water from Las Cruces city well. 
Parts per million 



Total solids 998 

Calcium (Ca) 156 

Magnesium (Mg) 19 

Sodium (Na) 159 

Sulfate radicle (SO), 338 



Parts per million. 

Chlorine (CI) 133 

Silica (SiO^) 27 

Carbonate radicle (CO3) 120 

Organic and volatile Trace. 



Well of Theodore Roualt. — Mr. Roualt's well is located on his ranch 
near the river, 3 miles northwest of Las Cruces. It is a 10-inch well, 
48 feet deep, with a 10-foot strainer. Water is raised by a centrifugal 
pump and 1 8-horsepower steam engine at the rate of 351 gallons per 
minute. 



UNDERGROUND WATERS, MESILLA DISTRICT. 45 



to 



Well of Shalam Colony. — Several years ago an elaborate pumpin 
plant was constructed for irrigation purposes at Shalam Colony, west 
of Dona Ana. A circular pit 18 feet in diameter was sunk to a depth 
of 30 feet and its sides and bottom were cemented. In the bottom of 
this pit five wells were bored, three of which are 6 inches in diameter 
and 90 feet deep (60 feet below the bottom of the pit), one is 12 
inches in diameter and 90 feet deep, and one 6 inches in diameter and 
197 feet deep. At a depth of 90 feet there is a 3-foot gravel stratum, 
which apparently yields the greater part of the water. The sand 
beneath this stratum entered the pipe so freely that it was impracti- 
cable to draw water from horizons lower than 90 feet. 

A storage reservoir, covering an area of 1 acre and 5 feet deep, 
was constructed, and into this a 60-horsepower steam engine pumps 
water at the rate of 1,500 gallons per minute. 

The ground water at this place is 9 feet beneath the surface, making 
a normal depth of 21 feet of water in the pit. The pump lowers the 
water surface 18 feet to a level at which it remains stationary, the 
flow from the wells equaling the discharge of the pump. 

Well of J. R. Thompson. — Mr. Thompson's well is situated at the 
eastern edge of the valley, about 2 miles south of Earlham. It is a 
6-inch bored well, 138 feet deep, and obtains water from the coarse 
sand at the bottom of the well. An accurate driller's record wa's 
obtained as follows : 

Record of J. R. Thompson's well. 

Feet. 

Sand and silt 0- 80 

Clay 80-100 

Sand 100-1 18 

Clay 118-128 

Coarse sand 128-138 

Well of G. H. Totten. — Mr. Totten's well is located 1 mile west of 
Mesilla. It is a 10-inch well, 62 feet deep, with 24 feet of strainer. 
Water is raised by a centrifugal pump and 28-horsepower gasoline 
engine at the rate of 464 gallons per minute. When tested the w^ell 
contained only 12 feet of strainer, which had been placed in the upper 
sand layer. Later the well was lowered and a second 12-foot strainer 
was added, greatly increasing the flow. 

Record of G. H. Totten's well. 

Feet. 

Soil 0-17 

Sand 17-51 

Clay 51-53 

Sand and gravel 53-62 

Samples of the waters were taken from both sand layers of this well 
to ascertain if they varied in quality. The analyses, made by Prof. 



46 WATER RESOURCES OF RIO GRANDE VALLEY, N. MEX. 

R. F. Hare, of the New Mexico agricultural experiment station, 
indicate that the waters vary in the amounts, but not in the kinds of 
salts they contain, that from the upper sand containing 1,566 parts 
and that from the lower sand 1,123 parts of total solids per million 
parts of water. 

Table showing well records in Mesilla Valley. — ^The following table 
comprizes data concerning wells in Mesilla Valley. Descriptions of 
pumping tests for the first twelve wells of the table may be found in 
Prof. Charles S. Shchter's paper on ground waters of Rio Grande 
Valley :« 

o Water Sup. and Irr. Paper No. 141, U. S. Geol. Survey, 1905, pp. 51-73. 



UNDEKGROUND WATERS, MESILLA DISTRICT. 



47 



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48 



WATER RESOURCES OF RIO GRANDE VALLEY^ N. MEX. 



UNDERFLOW OF THE RIO GRANDE REGION. 
WATER PLANE. 

In Mesilla Valley the surface of the ground water is practically at 
the river level, as has been previously stated. The water plane in the 
valleys' farther north can not be accurately represented for lack of 
detailed topographic maps, but the depths to water in wells situated 
in the bottom lands throughout the Rio Grande region indicate that 
the surface of the ground v/ater is always at or very near the river level. 
The water plane determined for Mesilla Valley and mapped in PL X 
is probably typical, and the map doubtless expresses with sufficient 
accuracy the relation of the water table to the river and to the land 
surface for the entire region. 

QUANTITY OF UNDERFLOW. 

The investigation of the quantity and rate of underflow in Mesilla 
Valley, carried on in 1904 by Professor Slichter,^' shows (pp. 11-13) that 
there is practically no underflow through the canyon near El Paso, 
but (pp. 25-29) that near Mesilla Park, where a series of experiments 
were made, water enters the underflow both from the river and from 
the drainage of the mesas. His conclusions are tabulated as follows: 

Table 7. — Amount of water contributed to the under jiow of the Bio Grande near Mesilla Parle , 
N. Mex., between September 20 and October 23, 1904.. 



Dates. 


Num- 
ber of 
days. 


Amount of ground Avater con- 
tributed by each mile of the 
river. 


Amount of ground water con- 
tributed by rainfall upon 
mesa east of the valley per 
mile of river valley. 


Cubic feet 

of water 

per 24 

hours. 


Cubic feet 
per sec- 
ond. 


Gallons 
per min- 
ute. 


Cubic feet 

of water 

per 24 

hours. 


Cubic 
feet per 
second. 


Gallons 
per min- 
ute. 


September 20 to October 1 . . . 
October 1 to 9« 


11 

8 

7 
7 


110, 500 
640,000 
248,000 
117,200 


1.28 
7.40 
2.87 
1.36 


575 
3,330 
1,290 

745 


40, 500 

152,000 

29, 900 

5,950 


0.47 

1.76 

.35 

-.069 


211 
794 


October 9 to 16 


155 


October 16 to 23 


— 31 








33 


b 8, 900, 000 
270,000 






b 1,517, 000 
45, 800 






Average per day 


3.03 


1,360 


.515 


232 









"Heavy flood on October 5, 1904. 

b Total amount contributed for each mile of the valley in thirty-three days. By converthis; cubic 
feet into acre-feet it is found that the river lost 204 acre-feet of water to the gravels of the underflow in 
thirty-three days, and that 34.8 acre-feet were contributed by the rainfall in the same period". These 
amounts are for each mile of the valley. 

If the amounts shown by these figures are applied to Mesilla Valley 
as a whole the result is large. The valley is about 50 miles long, and 
if the seepage amounts to 204 acre-feet of water per mile a total of 
10,200 acre-feet of water was contributed to the underflow of the val- 
ley by the river during the thirty-three days included in the table. 

" Slichter. Charles S., Observations on the ground waters of Rio Grande Valley: Water-Sup. and 
Irr. Paper No. 141, U. S. Geol. Survey, 1905. 



UNDERFLOW OF THE EIO GRANDE REGION. 



49 



During the same time a total of 1,741 acre-feet was contributed by the 
rainfall, making a grand total for the valley of 11,941 acre-feet in the 
thirty-three days, or about 362 acre-feet a day. 

No measurements are available for the valleys farther north, but 
judging from the uniformity of conditions throughout the region a like 
-amount probably enters the ground in the other valleys. 

ORIGIN OF UNDERFLOW. 

The waters of the underflow are derived mainly from the Rio 
Grande. The rainfall is comparatively unimportant as a source of 
supply, since the rains are usually violent and of short duration, and 
although the material upon which the rain falls is very porous the 
greater part of the water enters the river. According to Slichter's 
table just quoted, the local rainfall contributes about one-seventh of 
the underflow. The tributary streams evidently contribute some 
water, but since they are small and intermittent the amount is prob- 
ably negligible, leaving the Rio Grande as the main source of supply. 
Measurements of the flow of the Rio Grande demonstrate the fact that 
the river is continually losing water, the greater volume of flow being 
measured at the upstream rather than the downstream gaging sta- 
tions. This is made clear by an inspection of the tables of discharge 
previously quoted (pp. 31-33). For purposes of convenient compari- 
son the following table of totals is given : 

Table 8. — Discharge of the Rio Grande in acre-feet. 



El Paso. 



San Mar- 
cial. 



Ildefonzo. 



Cenicero. 



Total for 9 years— 1897-1905 

Total for 6 years recorded at Cenicero . 



6,205,066 
4,101,906 



9,168,966 
5,749,197 



10,097,307 
6,431,512 



2,960,123 



From this table it appears that during the nine years recorded a 
loss of 32 per cent of the flow at San Marcial occurred between San 
Marcial and El Paso, a distance of about 140 miles, and that within the 
same period a loss of 38 per cent of the Ildefonso flow, over and above 
the total amount entering the Rio Grande from tributary streams 
during those years, occurred in a distance of about 280 miles. This loss 
is due to evaporation, diversion for irrigation, and absorption into the 
gravels. It is probable that could the discharge of the tributary 
streams be included the loss would be about double that shown by the 
river alone. To illustrate: During the nine years recorded the river 
lost 3,892,241 acre-feet in the 280 miles between Ildefonso and El 
Paso, in addition to the total discharge of such important tributaries 
as Galisteo Creek, Rio Jemes, Rio Puerco, Arroyo Salado, and scores 
of smaller tributaries. It is evident that the actual loss is much 
greater than that indicated by measurements of river discharge alone. 
IBE 188—07 4 



50 WATER EESOUECES OF EIO GRANDE VALLEY, N. MEX. 

All effort has been made to determine what percentage of the 
known loss is due to irrigation and what to seepage and evaporation. 
The discussion may be found in the Proceedings of the International 
(Water) Boundary Commission, United States and Mexico, vol. 2, pp. 
405-424. The results indicate that there is a notable loss of water 
over and above that diverted for irrigation. An average of three 
comparisons (p. 417) shows that 13 per cent of the San Marcial flow 
was lost by seepage and evaporation above El Paso. 

COURSE OF UNDERFLOW. 

All known facts point to the conclusion that a large amount of 
water is continually passing from the river into the underflow, and 
must either return to the surface and evaporate or find some under- 
ground passage by which to escape. Professor Slichter's" investiga- 
tion proves that the escape is not through the canyon at El Paso. 

The debris-filled valley west of El Paso and the apparently regular 
gradient of its water plane suggest that the course of the underflow 
may be down this old valley to the basin region of northern Mexico. 
On the other hand, the meager data available seem to show that this 
gradient is lower than that for Mesilla Valley, and that the flow 
should be toward the river rather than away from it, as would be the 
case if the course of the underflow was down the old valley. The 
data available at the present time are not adequate to solve this 
problem. 

A more probable means of escape is by evaporation. Accepting 
Slichter's measurements of 362 acre-feet a day, contributed in Mesilla 
Valley, about 132,000 acre-feet of water would enter the gravels in a 
year. The evaporation of approximately 7 feet a year would remove 
from the 150,000 acres of Mesilla Vafley about 1,050,000 acre-feet if 
the water were freely exposed, or about 8 times the amount of water 
entering the underflow. Over a considerable part of the valley the 
water plane is near enough to the surface for considerable loss by 
capillary action. 

CHEMICAL CHARACTER OF RIO GRANDE WATERS. 
MESILLA DISTRICT. 

A large number of chemical anatyses of waters of Mesilla Valley 
have been published by Goss.^ Others have been collected from 
various sources and preserved in the records of the United States 
Geological Survey. It appears from these analyses that the total 
solids are not high as compared with those found in waters used else- 
where for irrigation, and that the salts are not those most deleterious 

oSlichter, C. S., ibid., pp. 0-13. 

bGoss, Arthur, Principles of water analysis: Bull. No. 34, New Mexico College of Agric. and 
Mech. Arts, 1900. 



CHEMICAL CHARACTER OF RIO GRANDE WATERS. 51 

to crops. ''Black alkali" (NagCOa) is wholly absent from both river 
and orround waters. ''White alkali" is abundant and accumulates as 
incrustations of salts due to the evaporation of water brought to the 
surface by capillary, action. 

The y\e\\ waters are not ver}^ satisfactory for domestic uses. The 
quantities of magnesium, sodium, and sulfuric acid, probably 
present in the form of Glauber's salt (sodium sulfate = Na2S04) and 
Epsom^salt (magnesium sulfate = MgS04) , indicate that the waters of 
the valle}^ in general are not very good for drinking purposes. The 
river water contains the same substances that are found in the wells, 
but in smaller amounts. 

Waters obtained from the mesa gravels at El Paso, Deming, and 
elsewhere are much better for domestic use than those derived from 
gravels that are obviously supplied from the river. This is probably 
true of the Mesilla region, though not enough data are at hand con- 
cerning the mesa waters to permit positive statements. Two analyses 
have been made of samples of water taken west of Mesilla Valley. 
One, from J. F; Kilburn's well, contained 1,315 parts per million of 
dissolved solids, and is more saline than many in the valley; the 
other, from the railway well at Lanark, contained 585 parts per 
million of total solids, and is better than that from many of the valley 
wells. 

OTHER DISTRICTS. 

Little can be said of the chemical character of water from the Rio 
Grande region north of Mesilla Valley, few complete analyses being 
available. Those that could be obtained are included in Table 10. 
These analyses have been collected from various sources and are 
nearly all to be found in the records of the United States Geological 
Survey. 

In the lowlands throughout the Rio Grande region the salts con- 
tained in the waters accumulate as white incrustations over the soil. 
In Albuquerque Valley these accumulations are particularly abundant 
and in many places prevent the growth of vegetation. This condition 
is probably caused by crude metliods of irrigation. The land thus 
affected has been for many years in the "possession of Mexican ranch- 
men, who seldom take proper care of the land. 



52 



WATER RESOURCES OE RIO GRANDE VALLEY, N. MEX. 





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54 



WATER RESOURCES OF RIO GRANDE VALLEY, N. MEX. 



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WATER SUPPLY. 55 

APPLICATIONS. 
UTILIZATION OF UNDERFLOW. 

Shallow wells. — The flood-plain material of the lowlands along the 
river, although saturated, does not, in general, allow the water to pass 
through it freely enough for the successful use of shallow irrigation 
wells. In certain places, however, as at Belen, where the railway well 
is dug m coarse sand, large volumes of water are readily obtained from 
this material. 

Deep wells. — Beneath the fine silt of the flood plains there is coarser 
material, from which large quantities of water are obtained, as in the 
various irrigation wells in Mesilla Valley and the city wells at Albu- 
querque. A considerable amount of fine sand and silt occurs in the 
gravel beds as well as in the flood-plain deposits and prevents the 
rapid movement of water through them, causing the high lift and to a 
large extent the great cost shown in Table 6. In spite of its great 
cost, however, the pumping of water for irrigation has proved profit- 
able in El Paso and Mesilla valleys. In the valleys farther north the 
gravels are apparently coarser and water could probably be pumped 
at less cost than in Mesilla Valley. In Mesilla Valley the quantity of 
water recovered might be greatly increased by additional wells, and 
pumping plants might be established with profit in Palomas, Socorro, 
Belen, and Albuquerque valleys. Although the data at hand show that 
in this region, as compared with other valleys of the Southwest, the 
underflow is small and the water not readily obtainable on account of 
the fineness of the material in which it is contained, enough water may 
be pumped from the sands and gravels to warrant development. 

Seepage ditches. — The construction of seepage ditches as a means of 
obtaining the waters of the underflow has been proposed for' the Kio 
Grande Valley, but no such ditches have been dug, and the large pro- 
portion of fine sand and silt is apparently unfavorable to this method 
of procuring the water. 

WATER STORAGE. 

The alternation of broad basins and narrow canyons along the 
course of the river is apparently favorable to the establishment of 
storage reservoirs, but at only two points are the rock formations 
suitable for the construction of masonry dams. These are in El Paso 
canyon, the dam site of the proposed International reservoir, and at 
Elephant Butte, the dam site of the proposed Engle reservoir. 

From a geologic standpoint the Engle reservoir is much more favor- 
able for water storage than the International reservoir. The most 
important geologic considerations favoring the location of a storage 
reservoir in Engle Valley are (1) a narrow canyon with hard rock 



56 WATER RESOURCES OF RTO GRANDE VALLEY, N. MEX. 

walls; (2) rock foundation for the proposed dam; (3) good building 
material near the dam site^ and (4) a long, deep, narrow storage res- 
ervoir, in which loss by evaporation will be comparatively small and 
from which the mud may to some extent be removed by sluicing. 

No other good reservoir sites were found within the Rio Grande 
region, nor are the geologic conditions favorable to the occurrence of 
good sites. Since the Rio Grande Valley is a succession of debris- 
filled intermontane troughs it is only where the river in its superim- 
posed course has left the old filled valleys and cut channels in the hard 
rock that good dam sites are found. This action has occurred at only 
two places in the region described — one near El Paso and one near 
Elephant Butte. In the other canyons the unconsolidated detritus 
beneath the sheets of basalt extends to some unknowm depth beneath 
the river and prohibits the construction of bed-rock dams. 



INDEX. 



Page. 

Academj^ Loretto, woll of, record of 47 

Agi'icultural college, river water at, analyses 

of 52 

well of 41-42 

well of, record of 42, 47 

water of analyses of 53 

Albuquerque, evaporation at 31 

rainfall at 31 

rocks near 17 

terraces at and near 11-12 

volcanoes and lava flow at, view of 12 

"wells at and near 34-35 

record of 35 

water of, analyses of 54 

Albuquerque district, wells of 34-35 

wells of, record of 35 

water of, analyses of 54 

Albuquerque Valley, description of 13, 22 

salts in 51 

wells in 55 

Ames, P. S., well of, record of 47 

Andesites, occurrence of 17, 20 

Arroyo Salado, location of 13-14 

thickness of valley fill in 17 

view showing 18 

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, 

wells of 36 

wells of, records of 36, 37, 38, 47 

Baldwin (L.) & Co.,- well of, record of 38 

Barker, F. C, wells of 42 

wells of, records of 42, 47 

Bamcastle, J. B., well of, water of, analysis 

of 53 

Basalts, occurrence of 17, 21 

Bascom (F. H.) & Co., well of, record of . . . 47 

Bean, S. F., well of, record of 47 

Becker siding, well at 36 

well at, record of 36 

Belen, water of, analysis of 53 

wells at and near 35-36 

Belen district, description of 35 

wells in 35-37 

wells in, records of 36, 37 

water of. analyses of 53 

Belen Valley, description of 13-14, 29 

wells in 55 

Berino, wells near 44 

well near, record of 47 

Bernalillo, rainiail at 31 

well at, water of, analysis of 54 

Bosque Seco, well at, water of, analysis of . 53 

Boyer, E. M., well of 43 

well of, record of 43, 47 



Page. 

Brock, Henry, wells of, records of 40 

Burke, Frank, well of 43 

well of, record of 43, 47 

Caballos Mountains, rocks of 9, 19 

rocks of, view of . . 12 

view of 20 

Cambray, rainfall at 31 

Carrera, J. C, well of 43 

well of, record of 47 

Catholic Church, well of, record of 47 

Cenicero, Colo., flow at 33 

Cerro Cuchillo, rocks of 9, 19 

Cerro Magdalen, rocks of 9, 17, 18 

Cerro Robledo, rocks of 9, 19 

Chapman, R. H., on San Acacia dam 29 

Chaves, J. F., well of, water of, analysis of . 53 

Colorado siding, well at 36 

well at, record of 36 

Darton, N. H., work in charge of 7 

Deformation, history of 20 

Deming, wells at, water of, analyses of 51 

Dona Ana, wells at and near 45 

wells at and near, water of, analyses of . . 53 

Dona Ana Hills, rocks of 9,17 

Drainage, description of 31-33 

Earlham River, water near, analyses of 52 

well near 45 

record of 45, 47 

Elephant Butte Canyon, dam site in 15 

description of 14-15, 55-56 

region of, geologic map of 26 

El Paso, Tex., depth of valley fill at 17 

flow at 32 

rainfall at 31 

wells at, water of, analyses of 51 

El Paso and Southwestern Railway, wells 

of, records of 40 

El Paso Canyon, description of 15, 24 

reservoir site at 25, 55-56 

El Paso Valley, description of 16 

Elwood, Robert, well of 43 

well of, record of 43, 47 

Engle, rainfall at 31 

wells near 37-38 

Engle reservoir, dam site at, view of 28 

description of 26-29, 55-56 

materials for 28-29 

spillway for 27 

Engle Valley, building stone in 26, 28 

cement material in 28-29 

analyses of 28 

coal in 29 

description of , 14, 22, 23 

57 



58 



INDEX. 



Page. 
Engle Valley, reservoir site in 14, 26 

rocks in 26-27 

structure in 26-27 

Erosion, effects of 12-16, 19, 27 

history of 21-23 

Espanola, rainfall at 31 

Espanola Valley, description of 12 

reservoir site in 30 

view near 16 

Evaporation, amount of 31, 50 

Faults, occurrence of 19 

views of - 22 

Floods, occurrence of 7 

Fort Fillmore, wells at, records of 47 

wells at, water of, analysis of 53 

Fort McRae, well near 38 

Era Cristobal Mountains, rocks of 9, 19 

rocks of, views of 22 

Galisteo, rainfall at 31 

Geography, description of 8-16 

Geology, description of 16-24 

Glorieta Mesa, rocks of 18 

Goss, A., well of, water of, analysis of 53 

Gravels, accumulations of 20, 22 

Gypsum, occurrence of 23 

Hager, W. N., well of 43 

well of, record of 47 

Hall, B. M., silt computations by 24 

Hawkins, , well of, record of 40 

Herrington, Robert, well of, record of 40 

Hillsboro, rainfall at 31 

Hines, A. L., well of 43-44 

well of, record of 43-44, 47 

Horaco Ranch Co., wells of 44 

wells of, records of 47 

Igneous rocks, description of 17 

Ildef onso, flow at 33 

International reservoir, description of... 25,55-56 

evaporation at 31 

Irrigable lands, disadvantages of 7-8 

Irrigation, pumping for 55 

Isaacks, J. D., wells of, records of 38 

Isleta, well at, water of, analysis of 53 

Isleta Narrows, description of 13 

Jemes Mountains, rocks of 17, 18 

Jornada del Muerto, character of . 9-10, 21, 22, 23, 37 

wells in 38 

records of 38 

Jornada district, artesian water in 39 

structure of 37 

wells of 37-39 

records of 38 

water of, analyses of 53 

Kilburn, J. F., wells of, records of 40 

wells of, water of, analysis of 51, 53 

La Cienaga, springs at 34 

La Mesa, description of 10-11,21,22,39-40 

lava flow on 22 

rocks of : 17 

wells on 39 

La Mesa district, wells in 39-40 

wells in, records of 40 

water of, analyses of 53 

Lanark, depth of valley fill at 17 

wells at • 39 

water of, analysis of 53 



Page. 

Lane, Dr., wells of, records of 47 

Las Cruces, wells at 42, 43, 44 

wells at and near, records of 42, 47 

water of, analysis of 44, 53 

Las Palomas Valley, description of 15, 22 

wells in 55 

Lester, F. E., well of, water of, analysis of . . 53 

Lewis Brothers, well of, record of 40 

Linger (G.W.) & Co., well of, record of 38 

Loretto Academy, well of, record of 47 

Los Lunas, rainfall at 31 

Map, of Mesilla Valley 42 

of Rio Grande region .' 7 

Map, geologic, of Elephant Butte region 26 

Mesa. See La Mesa- 

Mesilla, wells near 43-44, 45-46 

wells near, records of 44, 45, 47 

water of, analysis of 53 

Mesilla district. See Mesilla Valley . 

Mesilla Park, rainfall at 31 

underflow at 48 

wells at and near 41-42, 43, 45 

record of.... 42,43,47 

water of, analyses of 53 

Mesilla Valley, deposits in 24, 41 

description of 15, 40-41 

irrigable land in 15 

map of 42 

reservoir site in 25 

underground water in 41 

wells in 40-47 

records of 42-45, 47 

water of, analyses of 50-51, 53 

Misques, Francisco, well of, water of, analy- 
sis of 53 

Mountains, descriptions of 9 

New Mexico, geographic provinces of, de- 
scriptions of 8-16 

Noria, wells at 39 

Plains, descriptions of 9-11 

Quaternary and Tertiary time, history in. 20-24 

Quaternary rocks, description of 19-20 

Quintero, L., well of, record of 47 

Rainfall, amount of 30-31 

character of 7, 30 

Reservoir sites, descriptions of 25-30 

Rhyolites, occurrence of 17, 20, 23 

Rincon, rainfall at 31 

well at, water of, analysis of 53 

Rio G lande, ancient course of 21-22 

discharge of 49 

diversion of 23 

drainage area of 31 

erosion basins on 12-16 

flow of, absorption of 8, 49-50 

character of 7, 31-33 

region of, cross sections of 14 

geography of 8 

map of 7 

underflow in 48-50 

valley of, deposits in 20-24 

description of 7,11-12 

rainfall in 30-31 

section of, figure showing 20 

water of, analyses of 52-54 

character of 50-54 



INDEX. 



59 



Page. 

Rio Puereo, location of 13 

Rocks, character of 8, 9, l(i-17 

Rocky Mountaiu uplift, description of 8, 18 

Rodadero Peak, character of 25 

Roualt, Theodore, well of 44 

well of, record of 47 

water of, analysis of 53 

San A cacia gorge, dam site in 29 

description of 14 

view in 18 

Sandia, depth of valley fill at 17 

well at 36 

record of 37 

Sandia Mountains, rocks of 18 

Sandia volcano, view of 20 

San Domingo Valley, character of 22 

San Felipe Canyon, dam site in 29-30 

description of 13 

San Marcial, flow at 31 

lava flow near 17, 21, 22 

diversion of Rio Grande by 23 

mesa at, view of 16 

rainfall at 30, 31 

well at, water of, analysis of 53 

Santa Fe, depth of valley fill at 17 

rainfall at 30, 31 

well near, record of 34 

wells near 33-34 

Santa Fe Creek, terrace on 11 

water of, analyses of 54 

Santa Fe district, water of, analyses of 54 

wells of 33-34 

wells of, record of 34 

Santo Domingo Valley, description of 13 

Sedimentary rocks, consolidated, descrip- 
tion of 16, 19 

Sedimentary rocks, unconsolidated, de- 
scription of 16-17, 19-20 

Seepage ditches, objections to 55 

Selden Canyon, description of 15 

gypsum in 23 

Shalam Colony, well of 45 

well of, record of 47 

water of, analysis of 53 

Sierra Ladron, rocks of 9,18 

view at 18 

Silt, accumulation of 24 

Slichter, C. S., on Mesilla Valley wells 41, 46 

on underflow 48-50 



Page. 

Slopes, description of 11 

Snow, O. C, well of, water of, analysis of. . . 53 

Socorro, rai nf all at 31 

Socorro Mountains, rocks of 9, 17, 18 

Socorro Valley, description of 14 

wells in 55 

Southern Pacific Railway, well of, record of . 40 

Stahling, J. B.,' wells of, records of 40 

Steele, S. A., well of, record of 47 

Stewart, W. G., well of, record of 47 

Structure, description of 17-19 

Taylor, J. W., wells of, records of 38 

Terraces, description of 11-12 

Tertiary and Quaternary time, history in . . 20-24 

Tertiary rocks, description of 19 

view of 18 

Thompson, J. R., well of 45 

well of, record of 45, 47 

Thornton, well at, water of, analysis of 54 

Topography, description of 8-16 

development of 19-20 

Totten, G. H., well of 45-46 

well of, record of 45, 47 

water of, analyses of 53 

Turner, , well of, record of 38 

Underflow, amount of 48-49 

course of 50 

depth of 48 

origin of 49-50 

utilization of ' 55 

Upham, well near, record of 38 

Valley fill, depth of 17,20,24 

Victoria Land and Cattle Co., wells of, rec- 
ords of 38 

Volcanic activity, history of 20-22 

Water, storage of 55-56 

See also Water, underground; Water 
supply; Wells, etc. 

Water, underground, occurrence of 33-47 

Water supply, applications of 55-56 

description of 30-56 

Wells, depth of valley fill shown in 17, 20, 24 

materials in 20, 24 

water in 55 

White Rock Canyon, dam site in 30 

description of 12-13 

gorge at, view of 16 

rocks of 17 

section across, figure showing 30 



CLASSIFICATION OF THE PUBLICATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL 

SURVEY. 

[Water-Supply Paper No. 188.] 

The publications of the United States Geological Survey consist of (1) Annual 
Reports, (2) Monographs, (3) Professional Papers, (4) Bulletins, (5) Mineral 
Resources, (6) Water-Supply and Irrigation Papers, (7) Topographic Atlas of United 
States — folios and separate sheets thereof, (8) Geologic Atlas of United States — folios 
thereof. The classes numbered 2, 7, and 8 are sold at cost of publication; the others 
are distributed free. A circular giving complete lists can be had on application. 

Most of the above publications can be obtained or consulted in the following ways: 

1. A limited number are delivered to the Director of the Survey, from whom they 
can be obtained, free of charge (except classes 2, 7, and 8), on application. 

2. A certain number are delivered to Senators and Representatives in Congress for 
distribution. 

3. Other copies are deposited with the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, 
D. C, from whom they caii be had at prices slightly above cost. 

4. Copies of all Government publications are furnished to the principal public 
libraries in the large cities throughout the United States, where they can be consulted 
by those interested. 

The Professional Papers, Bulletins, and Water-Supply Papers treat of a variety of 
subjects, and the total number issued is large. They have therefore been classified 
into the following series: A, Economic geology; B, Descriptive geology; C, System- 
atic geology and paleontology; D, Petrography and mineralogy; E, Chemistry and 
physics; F, Geography; G, Miscellaneous; H, Forestry; I, Irrigation; J, Water stor- 
age; K, Pumping water; L, Quality of water; M, General hydrographic investiga- 
tions; N, Water power; O, Underground waters; P, Hydrographic progress reports. 
This paper is the one hundred and eighth in Series B, and the sixty-sixth in Series 
O, the complete lists of which follow (PP= Professional Paper; B=Bulletin; WS= 
AYater-Supply Paper) : 

SERIES B, DESCRIPTIVE GEOLOGY. 

B 23. Observations on the junction between the Eastern sandstone and the Keweenaw series on Kewee- 
naw Point, Lake Superior, by R. D. Irving and T. C. ChamberUn. 1885. 124 pp., 17 pis. (Out 
of stock.) 

B 33. Notes on geology of northern California, by J. S. Diller. 1886. 23 pp. (Out of stock.) 

B 39. The upper beaches and deltas of Glacial Lake Agassiz, by Warren Upham. 1887. 84 pp., 1 pi. 
(Out of stock.) 

B 40. Changes in river courses in Washington Territory due to glaciation, by Bailey Willis. 1887. 10 
pp., 4 pis. (Out of stock.) 

B 45. The present condition of knowledge of the geology of Texas, by R. T. Hill. 1887. 94 pp. (Out 
of stock.) 

B 53. The geology of Nantucket, by N. S. Shaler. 1889. 55 pp., 10 pis. (Out of stock.) 

B 57. A geological reconnaissance in southwestern Kansas, by Robert Hay. 1890. 49 pp., 2 pis. 

B 58. The glacial boundary in western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, by G. F. 
Wright, with introduction by T. C. Chamberlin. 1890. 112 pp., 8 pis. (Out of stock.) 

B 67. The relations of the traps of the Newark system in the New Jersey region, by N. H. Darton. 1890. 
82 pp. (Out of stoc-R.;) 

B 104. Glaciation of the Yellowstone Valley north of the Park, by VV. R. Weed. 1893. 41 pp., 4 pis. 

B 108. A geological reconnaissance in central Washington, by I. C. Russell. 1893. 108 pp., 12 pis, 
(Out of stock.) 

I 



II SERIES LIST. 

H lin. A gi'olofiical m-onnaissaiico in nort Invest \\yoming, l)y G. H. Eldridge. 189-1. 72 pp., 4 pis. 

B 137. Tiic geology of tlic Fort Riloy Military Reservation and vicinity, Kansas, by Robert Hay. i896. 
35 pp., 8 pis. 

B 144. Tlie moraines of tlie Missouri Cotcau and their attendant deposits, by J. E. Todd. 1896. 71 
pp., 21 pis. 

B IJS. The moraines of southeastern South Dakota and their attendant deposits, by J. E. Todd. 1899, 
171 pp., 27 pis. 

B 159. The geology of eastern Berkshire County, Massachusetts, l)y B. K. Emerson. 1899. 139 pp., 9 
pis. 

B 165. Contributions to the geology of Maine, by H. S. Williams and II. E. Gregory. 1900. 212 pp., 14 
pis. 

WS 70. Geology and water resources of the Patrick and Goshen Hole quadrangles in eastern Wyoming 
and western Nebraska, by G. I. Adams. 1902. 50 pp., 11 pis. 

B 199. Geology and water resources of the Snake River Plains of Idaho, by I. C. Russell. 1902. 192pp., 
25 pis. 

PP 1. Preliminary report on the Ketchikan mining district, Alaska, with an introductory sketch of 
the geology of southeastern Alaska, by A. H. Brooks. 1902. 120 pp., 2 pis. 

PP 2. Reconnaissance of tlie northwestern portion of Seward Peninsula, Alaska, by A. J. Collier. 1902. 
70 pp., 11 pis. 

PP 3. Geology and petrography of Crater Lake National Park, by J. S. Diller and H. B. Patton. 1902. 
167 pp., 19 pis. 

PP 10. Reconnaissance from Fort Hamlin to Kotzebue Sound, Alaska, by way of Dall, Kanuti, Allen, 
and Kowak rivers, by W. C. Mendenhall. 1902. 68 pp., 10 pis. 

PP 11. Clays of the United States east of the Mississippi River, by Heinrich Ries. 1903. 298 pp., 9 pis. 

PP 12. Geology of the Globe copper district, Arizona, by F. L. Ransome. 1903. 168 pp., 27 pis. 

PP 13. Drainage modifications in southeastern Ohio and adjacent parts of West Virginia and Ken- 
tucky, by W. G. Tight. 1903. Ill pp., 17 pis. (Out of stock.; 

B 208. Descriptive geology of Nevada south of the fortieth parallel and adjacent portions of Califor- 
nia, by J. E. Spurr. 1903. 229 pp., 8 pis. 

B 209. Geology of Ascutney Mountain, Vermont, by R. A. Daly. 1903. 122 pp., 7 pis. 

WS 78. Preliminary report on artesian basins in southwestern Idaho and southeastern Oregon, by 
I. C. Russell. 1903. 51 pp., 2 pis. 

PP 15. Mineral resources of the Mount Wrangell district, Alaska, by W. C. Mendenhall and F. C. Schra- 
der. 1903. 71 pp., 10 pis. 

PP 17. Preliminary report on the geology and water resources of Nebraska west of the one hundred 
and third meridian, by N. H. Darton. 1903. 69 pp., 43 pis. 

B 217. Notes on the geology of southwestern Idaho and southeastern Oregon, by I. C. Russell. 1903. 
83 pp., 18 pis. 

B 219. The ore deposits of Tonopah, Nevada (preliminary report), by J. E. Spurr. 1903. 31 pp., 1 pi. 

PP 20. A reconnaissance in northern Alaska in 1901, by F. C. Schrader. 1904. 139 pp., 16 pis. 

PP 21. The geology and ore deposits of the Bisbee quadrangle, Arizona, by F. L. Ransome. 1904. 168 
pp., 29 pis. 

WS 90. Geology and water resources of part of the lower James River Valley, South Dakota, by J. E. 
Todd and C. M. Hall. 1904. 47 pp., 23 pis. 

PP 25. The copper deposits of the Encampment district, Wyoming, by A. C. Spencer. 1904. 107 pp., 
2 pis. 

PP 26. Economic resources of the northern Black Hills, by J. D. Irving, with contributions by S. F. 
Emmons and T. A. Jaggar, jr. 1904. 222 pp., 20 pis. 

PP 27. A geological reconnaissance across the Bitterroot Range and Clearwater Mountains iii Mon- 
tana and Idaho, by Waldemar Lindgren. 1904. 122 pp., 15 pis. 

PP 31. Preliminary report on the geology of the Arbuckle and Wichita mountains in Indian Territory 
and Oklahoma, by J. A. Taff, with an appendix on reported ore deposits in the Wichita Moun- 
tains, by H. F. Bain. 1904. 97 pp., 8 pis. 

B 235. A geological reconnaissance across the Cascade Range near the fortj^-ninth parallel, by G. O. 
Smith and F. C. Calkins. 1904. 103 pp., 4 pis. 

B 236. The Porcupine placer district, Alaska, by C. W. Wright. 1904. 35 pp., 10 pis. 

B 237. Igneous rocks of the High wood Mountains, Montana, by L. V. Pirsson. 1904. 208 pp., 7 pis. 

B 238. Economic geology of the lola quadrangle, Kansas, by G. I. Adams, Erasmuth Haworth, and 
W. R. Crane. 1904. 83 pp., 1 pi. 

PP 32. Geology and underground water resources of the central Great Plains, by N. H. Darton. 1905. 
433 pp., 72 pis. 

WS 110. Contributions to hydrology of eastern United States, 1904; M. L. Fuller, geologist in charge. 
1905. 211 pp., 5 pis. 

B 242. Geology of the Hudson Valley between the Iloosic and the Kinderhook, by T. Nelson Dale. 
1904. 63 pp., 3 pis. 

PP 34. The Delavan lobe of the Lake Michigan glacier of the Wisconsin stage of glaciation and asso- 
ciated phenomena, by W. C. Alden. 1904. 106 pp., 15 pis. 



SERIES LIST. Ill 

PP 35. Geology of the Perry IJasin in southeastern Maine, by G. O. Smith and David White. 1905. 

107 pp., 6 pis. 
B 243. Cement materials and industry of the United States, by E. C. Eclccl. 1905. 395 pp., 15 pis. 
B 240. Zinc and lead deposits of northeastern Illinois, by H. F. Bain. 1904. 56 pp., 5 pis. 
B 247. The Fairhaven gold placers of Seward Peninsula, Alaska, by F. II. M^ffit. 1905. 85 pp., 14 pis. 
B 249. Limestones of southwestern Pennsylvania, by F. G. Clapp. 1905. 52 pp., 7 pis. 
B 250. The petroleum fields of the Pacific coast of Alaska, with an account of the Bering River coal 

deposit, by G. C. Martin. 1905. 65 pp., 7 pis. 
B 251. The gold placers of the Fortymile, Birch Creek, and Fairbanks regions, Alaska, by L. M. 

Prindle. 1905. 16 pp., 16 pis. 
WS 118. Geology and water resources of a portion of east-central Washington, by F. C. Calkins. 1905. 

96 pp., 4 pis. 
B 252. Preliminary report on the geology and water resources of Central Oregon, by I. C. Russell. 

1905. 138 pp., 24 pis. 
PP 36. The lead, zinc, and fluorspar deposits of western Kentucky, by E. O. Ulrich and W. S. Tangier 

Smith. 1905. 218 pp., 15 pis. 
PP 38. Economic geology of the Bingham mining district of Utah, by J. M. Boutwell, with a chapter 

on areal geology, by Arthur Keith, and an introduction on general geology, by S. F. 

Emmons. 1905. 413 pp., 49 pis. 
PP 41. The geology of the central Copper River region, Alaska, by W. C. Mendenhall. 1905. 133 pp., 

20 pis. 
B 254. Report of progress in the geological resurvey of the Cripple Creek district, Colorado, by 

Waldemar Lindgren and F. L. Ransome. 1904. 36 pp. 
B 255. The fluorspar deposits of southern Illinois, by H. Foster Bain. 1905. 75 pp., 6 pis. 
B 256. Mineral resources. of the Elders Ridge quadrangle, Pennsylvania, by R. W. Stone. 1905. 85 pp., 

12 pis. 
B 257. Geology and paleontology of the Judith River beds, by T. W. Stanton and J. B. Hatcher, with 

a chapter on the fossil plants, by F. H. Knowlton. 1905. 174 pp., 19 pis. 
PP 42. Geology of the Tonopah mining district, Nevada, by J. E. Spurr. 1905. 295 pp., 24 pis. 
WS 123. Geology and underground water conditions of the Jornada del Muerto, New Mexico, by 

C. R. Keyes. 1905. 42 pp., 9 pis. 
WS 136. Underground waters of Salt River Valley, Arizona, by W. T. Lee. 1905. 194 pp., 24 pis. 
PP 43. The copper deposits of Clifton-Morenci, Arizona, by Waldemar Lindgren. 1905. 375 pp., 25 pis. 
B 265. Geology of the Boulder district, Colorado, by N. M. Fenneman. 1905. 101 pp., 5 pis. 
B 267. The copper deposits of Missouri, by H. F. Bain and E. O. Ulrich. 1905. 52 pp., 1 pi. 
PP 44. Underground water resources of Long Island, New York, by A. C. Veatch and others. 1905. 

394 pp., 34 pis. 
WS 148. Geology and water resources of Oklahoma, by C. N. Gould. 1905. 178 pp., 22 pis. 
B 270. The configuration of the rock floor of Greater New York, by W. H. Hobbs. 1905. 96 pp., 5 pis. 
B 272. Taconic physiography, by T. M. Dale. 1905. 52 pp., 14 pis. 
PP 45. The geography and geology of Alaska, a summary of existing knowledge, by A. H. Brooks, 

with a section on climate, by Cleveland Abbe, jr., and a topographic map and description 

thereof, by R. M. Goode. 1905. 327 pp., 34 pis. 
B 273. The drumlins of southeastern Wisconsin (preliminary paper), by W. C. Alden. 1905. 46 pp., 

9 pis. 
PP 46. Geology and underground water resources of northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas, by 

A. C. Veatch. 1906. 422 pp., 51 pis. 
PP 49. Geology and mineral resources of part of the Cumberland Gap coal field, Kentucky, by G. H. 

Ashley and L. C. Glenn, in cooperation with the State Geological Department- of Kentucky, 

C. J. Norwood, curator. 1906. ' 39 pp., 40 pis. 
PP 50. The Montana lobe of the Keeratlii ioc sheet, by F. H. H. Calhoun. 1906. 62 pp., 7 pis. 
B 277. Mineral resources of Kenai peninsula, Alaska: Gold fields of the Turnagain Arm region, by 

F. H. Moffit; and the coal fields of the Kachemak Bay region, by R. W. Stone. 1906. 80 pp., 

18 pis. (Out of stock.) 
WS 154. The geology and water resources of the eastern portion of the Panhandle of Texas, by C. N. 

Gould. 1906. 64 pp., 15 pis. 
B 278. Geology and coal resources of the Cape Lisburne region, Alaska, by A. J. Collier. 1906. 54 pp., 

9 pis. 
B 279. Mineral resources of the Kittanning and Rural Valley quadrangles, Pennsylvania, by Charles 

Butts. 1906. 198 pp., 11 pis. 
B 280. The Rampart gold placer region, Alaska, by L. M. Prindle and F. L. Hess. 1906. 54 pp., 7 pis. 
B 282. Oil fields of the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coastal Plain, by N. M. Fenneman. 1906. 146 pp., 11 pis. 
WS 157. Underground water in the valleys of Utah Lake and Jordan River, Utah, by G. B. Richard- 
son. 1906. 81 pp., 9 pis. 
PP 51. Geology of the Bighorn Mountains, by N. H. Darton. 1906. 129 pp., 47 pis. 
WS 158. Preliminary report on the geology and underground waters of the Roswell artesian area, 

New Mexico, by C. A. Fisher. 1906, 29 pp., 9 pis. 



IV SERIES LIST. 

PP 52. Geology and underground waters of the Arkansas Valley in eastern Colorado, by N. H. Darton. 
190(i. 90 pp., 28 pis. 

WS IP'i. Summary of underground-water resources of Mississippi, by A. F. Crider and L. C. Johnson. 
1906. 86 pp., 6 pis. 

PP 53. Geology and Avater resources of the Bighorn basin, Wyoming, by Cassius A. Fisher. 1906. 72 
pp., 16 pis. 

B 283. Geology and mineral resources of Mississippi, by A. F. Crider. 1906. 99 pp., 4 pis. 

B 286. Economic geology of the Beaver quadrangle, Pennsylvania (southern Beaver and northwest- 
ern Allegheny counties), by I,. H. Woolsey. 1906. 132 pp., 8 pis. 

B 287. The Juneau gold belt, Alaska, by A. C. Spencer, and a reconnaissance of Admiralty Island, 
Alaska, by C. W. Wright. 1906. 161 pp., 37 pis. 

PP 54. The geology and gold deposits of the Cripple Creek district, Colorado, by W. Lindgren and 
F. L. Ransome. 1906. 516 pp., 29 pis. 

PP 55. Ore deposits of the Silver Peak quadrangle, Nevada, by J. E. Spurr. 1906. 174 pp., 24 pis. 

B 289. A reconnaissance of the Matanuska coal field, Alaska, in 1905, by G. C. Martin. 1906. 36 pp., 

5 pis. 

WS 164. Underground waters of Tennessee and Kentucky west of Tennessee River and of an adjacent 

area in Illinois, by L. C. Glenn. 1906. 173 pp., 7 pis. 
B 293. A reconnaissance of some gold and tin deposits of the southern Appalachians, by L. C. Groton, 

with notes on the Dahlonega mines, by W. Lindgren. 1906. 134 pp., 9 pis. 
B 294. Zinc and lead deposits of the upper Mississippi Valley, by H. Foster Bain. 1906. 155 pp., 

16 pis. 
B295. The Yukon-Tanana region, Alaska: Description of Circle quadrangle, by L. M. Prindle. 1906. 

27 pp., 1 pi. 
B 296. Economic geology of the Independence quadrangle, Kansas, by Frank C. Schrader and 

Erasmus Haworth. 1906. 74 pp., 6 pis. 
WS 181. Geology and water resources of Owens Valley, California, by Willis T. Lee. 1906. 28 pp., 

6 pis. 

B 297. The Yampa coal field, Routt County, Colo., by N. M. Fenneman, Hoyt S. Gale, and M. R. 

Campbell. 1906. 96 pp., 9 pis. 
B 300. Economic geology of the Amity quadrangle in eastern Washington County, Pa., by F. G. 

Clapp. 1906. —pp., 8 pis. 
B 303. Preliminary account of Goldfield, Bullfrog, and other mining districts in southern Nevada, by 

F. L. Ransome, with notes on the Manhattan district, by G. H. Garrey and W. H. Emmons. 

1906. —pp., 5 pis. 
B 304. Oil and gas fields of Greene County, Pa., by R. W. Stone and F. G. Clapp. 1906. 110 pp., 3 pis. 
WS 188. Water resources of the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico and their development, by W. T. 

Lee. 1906. 59 pp., 10 pis. 

SERIES O, UNDERGROUND WATERS. 

WS 4. A reconnaissance in southeastern Washington, by I. C. Russell. 1897. 96 pp., 7 pis. (Out of 

stock.) 
WS 6. Underground waters of southwestern Kansas, by Erasmus Haworth. 1897. 65 pp., 12 pis. 

(Out of stock.) 
WS 7. Seepage waters of northern Utah, by Samuel Fortier. 1897. 50 pp., 3 pis. (Out of stock.) 
WS 12. Underground waters of southeastern Nebraska, by N. H. Darton. 1898. 56 pp., 21 pis. (Out 

of stock.) 
WS 21. Wells of northern Indiana, by Frank Leverett. 1899. 82 pp., 2 pis. (Out of stock.) 
WS26. Wells of southern Indiana (continuation of No. 21), by Frank Leverett. 1899. 64 pp. (Out 

of stock.) 
WS 30. Water resources of the lower peninsula of Michigan, by A. C. Lane. 1899. 97 pp., 7 pis. (Out 

of stock.) 
WS 31. Lower Michigan mineral waters, by A. C. Lane. 1899. 97 pp., 4 pis. (Out of stock.) 
WS 34. Geology and water resources of a portion of southeastern South Dakota, by J. E. Todd. 1900. 

34 pp., 19 pis. 
WS 53. Geology and water resources of Nez Perces County, Idaho, Pt. I, by I. C. Russell. 1901. 

86 pp., 10 pis. (Out of stock.) 
WS 54. Geology and water resources of Nez Perces County, Idaho, Pt. II, by I. C. Russell. 1901. 

87-141 pp. (Out of stock.) ^ 
WS 55. Geology and water resources of a portion of Yakima County, Wash., by G. O. Smith. 1901. 

68 pp., 7 pis. (Out of stock.) 
WS 57. Preliminary list of deep borings in the United States, Pt. I, by N. H. Darton. 1902. 60 pp. 

(Out of stock.) 
WS 59. Development and application of water in southern California, Pt. I, by J. B. Lippincott. 1902. 

95 pp., 11 pis. (Out of stock.) 
WS 60. Development and application of water in southern California, Pt. II, by J. B. Lippincott, 

1902. 96-140 pp. (Out of stock.) 



SERIES LIST. V 

WS 61. Preliminary list of deep borings in the United States, Pt. II, by N. H. Darton. 1902. 67 pp. 

(Ont of stock.) 
WS 67. The motions of nnderground waters, by C. S. Slichter. 1902. 106 pp., 8 pis. (Ont of stock.) 
B 199. Geology and water resources of the Snake River Plains of Idaho, by I. C. Russell. 1902. 192 

pp., 25 pis. 
WS77. Water resources of Molokai, Hawaiian Islands, by Waldemar Lindgren. 1903. 62 pp., 4 pis. 
WS 78. Preliminary report on artesian basin in southwestern Idaho and southeastern Oregon, by I. C. 

Russell. 1903. 53 pp., 2 pis. 
PP 17. Preliminary report on the geology and water resources of Nebraska west of the one hundred 

and third meridian, by N. H. Darton. 1903. 69 pp., 43 pis. 
WS 90. Geology and water resources of a part of the lower James River Valley, South Dakota, by 

J. E. Todd and C. M. Hall. 1904. 47 pp., 23 pis. 
WS 101. Underground waters of southern Louisiana, by G. D. Harris, with discussions of their uses for 

water supplies and for rice irrigation, by M. L. Fuller. 1904. 98 pp., 11 pis. 
WS 102. Contributions to the hydrology of eastern United States, 1903, by M. L. Fuller. 1904. 522 pp. 
WS 104. Underground waters of Gila Valley, Arizona, by W. T. Lee. 1904. ' 71 pp., 5 pis. 
WS 106. Water resources of the Philadelphia district, by Florence Bascom. 1904. 75 pp., 4 pis. 
WS 110. Contributions to the hydrology of eastern United States, 1904; M. L. Fuller, geologist in 

charge. 1904. 211 pp., 5 pis. 
PP 32. Geology and underground water resources of the central Great Plains, by N. H. Darton. 1904. 

433 pp., 72 pis. (Out of stock.) 
WS 111. Preliminary report on underground waters of Washington, by Henry Landes. 1904. 85 pp., 

ipl. 
WS 112. Underflow tests in the drainage basin of Los Angeles River, by Homer Hamlin. 1904. 

. 55 pp., 7 pis. 
WS 114. Underground waters of eastern United States; M. L. Fuller, geologist in charge. 1904. 

285 pp., 18 pis. 
WS 118. Geology and water resources of east-central Washington, by F. C. Calkins. 1905. 96 pp., 

4 pis. 

B252. Preliminary report on the geology and water resources of central Oregon, by I. C. Russell. 

1905. 138 pp., 24 pis. 
WS 120. Bibliographic review and index of papers relating to underground waters, published by the 

United States Geological Survey, 1879-1904, by M. L. Fuller. 1905. 128 pp. 
WS 122. Relation of the law to underground waters, by D. W. Johnson. 1905. 55 pp. 
WS 123. Geology and underground water conditions of the Jornada del Muerto, New Mexico, by 

C. R. Keyes. 1905. 42 pp., 9 pis. 
WS 136. Underground waters of the Salt River Valley, by W. T. Lee. 1905. 194 pp., 24 pis. 
B 264. Record of deep-well drilling for 1904, by M. L. Fuller, E. F. Lines, and A. C. Veatch. 1905. 

106 pp. 
PP 44. Underground water resources of Long Island, New York, by A. C. Veatch and others. 1906. 

394 pp., 34 pis. 
WS 137. Development of underground waters in the eastern coastal plain region of southern California, 

by W. C. Mendenhall. 1905. 140 pp., 7 pis. 
WS 138. Development of underground waters in the central coastal plain region of southern California, 

by W. C. Mendenhall. 1905. 162 pp., 5 pis. 
WS 139. Development of underground waters in the western coastal plain region of southern California, 

by W. C. Mendenhall. 1905. 105 pp., 7 pis. 
WS 140. Field measurements of the rate of movement of underground waters, by C. S. Slichter. 1905. 

122 pp., 15 pis. 
WS 141. Observations on the ground waters of Rio Grande Valley, by C. S. Slichter. 1905. 83 pp., 

5 pis. 

WS 142. Hydrology of San Bernardino Valley, California, by W. C. Mendenhall. 1905. 121 pp., 13 pis. 
WS 145. Contributions to the hydrology of eastern United States, M. L. Fuller, geologist in charge. 

1905. 220 pp., 6 pis. 

WS 148. Geology and water resources of Oklahoma, by C. N. Gould. 1905. 178 pp., 22 pis. 

WS 149. Preliminary list of deep borings in the United States, second edition, with additions, by 

N.H. Darton. 1905. 175 pp. 
PP 46. Geology and underground water resources of northern Louisiana and southern Arkansas, by 

A. C. Veatch. 1906 422 pp , 51 pis. 
WS 153. The underflow in Arkansas Valley in western Kansas, by C. S. Slichter, 1906. 90 pp., 3 pis. 
WS 154. The geology and water resources of the eastern portion of the Panhandle of Texas, by C. N. 

Gould. 1906. ,64 pp., 15 pJs. 
WS 155. Fluctuations of the water level in wells, with special reference to Long Island, New York, 

by A. C. Veatch. 1906. 83 pp., 9 pis. . 
WS 157. Underground water in the valleys of Utah Lake and Jordan River, Utah, by G. B. Richard.son. 

1906. 81 pp., 9 pis. 

WS 158. Preliminary report on the geology and underground waters of the Roswell artesian area. 
New Mexico, by C. A. Fisher. 1906. 29 pp., 9 pis. 

IKR 188—07 5 



VI SERIES LIST. 

PP 52. Geology and underground waters of the Arkansas Valley in eastern Colorado, by N. H. 

Darton. 1906. 90 pp., 28 pis. 
WS 159. Summary of underground-water resources of Mississippi, by A. F. Crider and L. C. Johnson. 

1906. SG pp., 6 pis. 
PP 53. Geology and water resources of the Bighorn basin, Wyoming, by C. A. Fisher. 1906. 72 pp., 

16 pis. 
WS 160. Underground-water papers, 1906, by M. L. Fuller. 1906. 104 pp., 1 pi. 
WS 163. Bibliographic review and index of underground-water literature published in the United 

States in 1905, by M. L'. Fuller, F. G. Clapp, and B. L. Johnson. 1906. 180 pp. 
WS 164. Underground waters of Tennessee and Kentucky west of Tennessee River and of an adja- 
cent area in Illinois, by L. C. Glenn. 1906. 173 pp., 7 pis. 
WS 181. Geology and water resources of Owens Valley, California, by W. T. Lee. 1906. 28 pp., 6 pis. 
WS 182. Flowing wells and municipal water supplies in the southern portion of the Southern Penin- 
sula of Michigan, by Frank Leverett and others. 1906. 292 pp., 5 pis. 
WS 183. Flowing wells and municipal water supplies in the middle and northern portions of the 

Southern Peninsula of Michigan, by Frank Leverett and others. 1906. 393 pp., 5 pis. 
B 298. Record of deep-well drilling for 1905, by M. L. Fuller and Samuel Sanford. 1906. 299 pp. 
WS 184, The underflow of the South Platte Valley, by C. S. Slichter and H. C. Wolff. 1906. 42 pp. 
WS 188. Water resources of the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico and their development, by 

W.T.Lee. 1906. 59 pp., 10 pis. 
The following papers also relate to this subject: Underground waters of Arkansas Valley in eastern 
Colorado, by G. K. Gilbert, in Seventeenth Annual, Pt. U; Preliminary report on artesian waters of a 
portion of the Dakotas, by N. H. Darton, in Seventeenth Annual, Pt. II; Water resources of Illinois, 
by Frank Leverett, in Seventeenth Annual, Pt. II; Water resources of Indiana and Ohio, by Frank 
Leverett, in Eighteenth Annual, Pt. IV; New developments in well boring and irrigation iij eastern 
South Dakota, by N. H. Darton, in Eighteenth Annual, Pt. IV. Rock waters of Ohio, by Edward 
Orton, in Nineteenth Annual, Pt. IV; Artesian-well prospects in the Atlantic coastal plain region, by 
N. H. Darton, Bulletin No. 138. 

Correspondence should be addressed to 

The Director, 

United States Geological Survey, 

Washington, D. C. 
January, 1907. 

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